Crossword Genius

Charlie's face smiles having taken lead in race (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

muggins

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

'smiles having taken lead in race' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'charlie's face' is the wordplay.
'charlie' becomes 'mug' (I've seen this before).
'face' becomes 'gins' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'mug'+'gins'='MUGGINS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for muggins that I've seen before include "A fool (that's me!)" , "Fool (referring to oneself)" , "Poor simpleton, me" , "Fool, sucker" , "idiot" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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