Crossword Genius

Note bird going over beast (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animal

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

'beast' is the definition.
(a beast is an animal)

'note bird going over' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'la' (musical note as in do-re-mi).
'bird going' becomes 'mina' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'over' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'la'+'mina'='lamina'
'lamina' backwards is 'ANIMAL'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for animal that I've seen before include "Such as 13 ac" , "I''m Alan (anag) - a wild, crazy person" , "See 26" , "Beast from Manila" , "cat, perhaps" .)

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