Crossword Genius

Boy from South Africa leaves, perhaps? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

salad

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

'leaves perhaps?' is the definition.
(salad leaves)

'boy from south africa' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'boy' could be 'sal' and 'sal' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ad' is a valid word 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 salad that I've seen before include "Raw greens, mainly" , "Raw vegetable dish" , "Cold dish of veg and herbs" , "Cold dish of various vegetables," , "healthy food" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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