Crossword Genius

Owlish utterances, not really Scottish (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hoots

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

'owlish utterances' is the definition.
'hoots' can be an answer for 'utterances' (hoot is a kind of utterance). I'm not sure about the 'owlish' bit.

'not really scottish' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'not' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hots' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hoots that I've seen before include "Owls' noises" , "Owl calls" , "cries of derision" , "Cries of contempt" , "Sounds of the owl" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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