Crossword Genius

Depiction of the boys on the left (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

portrayal

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

'depiction' is the definition.
(I know that depiction can be written as portrayal)

'boys on the left' is the wordplay.
'boys on' becomes 'portray' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the left' becomes 'al' (I've seen this in other clues).
'portray'+'al'='PORTRAYAL'

'of the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for portrayal that I've seen before include "It depicts" , "Artistic depiction" , "Depicting characters" , "Picture or description of royal prat" , "drawing" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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