Crossword Genius

One proverbially freezing supports sign of warmth round New Year (5,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

brass monkey

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

'one proverbially freezing' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'supports sign of warmth round new year' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'supports' could be 'bras' (I've seen this before) and 'bras' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
'new' could be 'n' and 'n' is found in the answer.
'year' could be 'y' and 'y' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for brass monkey that I've seen is " common cold?".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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