Crossword Genius

Left fellow a large depiction (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

portrayal

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'depiction' is the definition.
(I know that depiction can be written as portrayal)

'left fellow a large' is the wordplay.
'left fellow' becomes 'portray' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'portray'+'a'+'l'='PORTRAYAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for portrayal that I've seen before include "Imitation" , "It depicts" , "Artistic depiction" , "Study" , "Representation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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