Crossword Genius

Brute having a bit of fun sorting the mail (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animal

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

'brute' is the definition.
(I know that brute can be written as animal)

'a bit of fun sorting the mail' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
'bit' could be 'i' (resembles 1, a binary digit or bit) and 'i' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'mal' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'having' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for animal that I've seen before include "lamb, perhaps" , "cat, perhaps" , "Living creature with voluntary motion" , "Circus performer, maybe" , "Such as 13 ac" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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