Crossword Genius

Hairy ape is a brownish colour (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sepia

'a brownish colour' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'hairy ape is' is the wordplay.
'hairy' indicates an anagram (hairy can mean difficult or tricky).
'ape'+'is'='apeis'
'apeis' with letters rearranged gives 'SEPIA'.

(Other definitions for sepia that I've seen before include "Colour of old photographs" , "Pigment got from cuttlefish ink" , "source of ink" , "Sort of drawing" , "Reddish brown -- ie sap (anag)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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