Explorer gets cold thigh going over steppe maybe (9)
I believe the answer is:
champlain
'explorer' is the definition.
(I have seen 'French explorer' mean 'champlain' so perhaps 'explorer' could also mean 'champlain')
'over steppe maybe' is the wordplay.
'over' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'steppe' becomes 'plain' (I've seen this in another clue).
'maybe' becomes 'cham' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'plain' put after 'cham' is 'CHAMPLAIN'.
'gets cold thigh going' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for champlain that I've seen is " French explorer".)