Crossword Genius

By which the man won the “Best Beard” competition? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

whisker

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

'beard competition?' is the definition.
'whisker' can be an answer for 'beard' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the 'competition?' bit.

'by which the man won the best' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'man' could be 'ker' and 'ker' is found within the answer.
'won' could be 'w' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'w' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'his' 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).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for whisker that I've seen before include "Sensory hair of a cat" , "Long facial hair" , "Hair's breadth" , "Long stiff hair, of a cat say" , "narrow margin" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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