Crossword Genius

Hawking, say, with bird following animals around (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stephen

'hawking say' is the definition.
(Stephen Hawking)

'bird following animals around' is the wordplay.
'bird following' becomes 'steph' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'animals' becomes 'pens' (pen is a kind of animal).
'around' means to look at the middle letters.
The central letters of 'pens' are 'en'.
'steph'+'en'='STEPHEN'

'with' is the link.

(Other definitions for stephen that I've seen before include "Male" , "English king from eleven hundred and thirty five" , "Author of The Shining" , "Man" , "Old king" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.