Crossword Genius

African king capable of fooling when surrounded by fog (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lion

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'african king' is the definition.
'lion' can be an answer for 'king' (I have seen 'King of beasts' mean 'lion' so perhaps 'king' could also mean 'lion'). I am not sure about the 'african' bit.

'capable of fooling when surrounded by fog' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
'surrounded' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found within the remaining letters.
A single letter 'l' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lion that I've seen before include "Touring rugby player" , "King of the forest" , "Big cat with pride" , "Large predatory feline" , "cowardly character in Oz" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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