Crossword Genius

Save Lear, perhaps, being mad (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

barking

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

'mad' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'save lear perhaps being' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'save' could be 'bar' (both can mean 'except') and 'bar' is located in the answer.
'being' could be 'king' (king is a kind of being) and 'king' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for barking that I've seen before include "Dog may be" , "Area of London - mad?" , "What Battersea resident may be doing" , "Crazy - yapping" , "Mental" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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