Crossword Genius

Information on the first man (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gent

'man' is the definition.
(gent is a kind of man)

'information on the' is the wordplay.
'information' becomes 'gen' (gen can informally mean information).
'on' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'gen'+'t'='GENT'

'first' is the link.

(Other definitions for gent that I've seen before include "Toff" , "Informal and short man" , "Auctioneer's tool" , "cove" , "Honourable man" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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