Crossword Genius

Measure the hair in need of cutting? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

furlong

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

'measure' is the definition.
(furlong is a kind of measure)

'the hair in need of cutting?' is the wordplay.
'the hair' becomes 'fur' (fur is a kind of hair).
'in need of' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'cutting?' becomes 'long' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'fur'+'long'='FURLONG'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for furlong that I've seen before include "Imperial unit of length, an eighth of a mile" , "220 yards" , "Measure of distance" , "1/8th of a mile" , "One eighth of a mile" .)

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