Crossword Genius

Fictional villain with short hair male friend cut (2,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fu manchu

'fictional villain' is the definition.
(villain in novels by Sax Rohmer)

'with short hair male friend cut' is the wordplay.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'hair' becomes 'fur' (fur is a kind of hair).
'male friend cut' becomes 'manchu' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'fur' with its final letter taken off is 'fu'.
'fu'+'manchu' is 'FU MANCHU'.

(Other definitions for fu manchu that I've seen before include "Sax Rohmer's evil genius of a doctor" , "Sax Rohmer's oriental villain" , "Dr -- --, fictional Asian villain" , "Fictional Chinese arch-villain (Sax Rohmer)" , "terrible Chinese doctor" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app