Crossword Genius

Beastly male excesses, hollow legs! (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stages

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

'legs' is the definition.
(I know this)

'beastly male excesses hollow' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'male' could be 'stag' (a stag is a male deer) and 'stag' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'es' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stages that I've seen before include "Sagest venues for plays" , "Stations" , "Parts of route taken by bus" , "Arranges" , "Parts of a process" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times.
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