Crossword Genius

Alias of northern bloke returning to be embraced by number one (3,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pen name

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

'alias' is the definition.
(pen name is a kind of alias)

'northern bloke returning to be embraced by number one' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'northern' could be 'n' (abbreviation e.g. N. Ireland) and 'n' is present in the answer.
'be' could be 'am' and 'am' is found within the answer.
'number' could be 'e' (e is a kind of number) and 'e' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pen name that I've seen before include "Author's alias" , "such as Mark Twain" , "Nom-de-plume" , "Author's pseudonym" , "Writer's pseudonym" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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