Crossword Genius

Hero’s receding US hairstyle — Yank at heart (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

superman

'hero's' is the definition.
(comic book superhero)

'receding us hairstyle yank at heart' is the wordplay.
'receding' says the letters should be written backwards.
'hairstyle' becomes 'perm' (perm is a hairstyle).
'at heart' means to look at the middle letters.
The central letters of 'yank' are 'an'.
'us' back-to-front is 'su'.
'su'+'perm'+'an'='SUPERMAN'

(Other definitions for superman that I've seen before include "Nietzschean or cartoon hero" , "Comic book hero" , "Heroic figure" , "Rescuing male" , "Clark Kent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app