Singer and friend outside university with academic attire on? (4,7)
I believe the answer is:
paul robeson
'singer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'friend outside university with academic attire on?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'university' could be 'u' (abbreviation for university) and 'u' is present in the answer.
'friend' could be 'pal' (pal can mean a friend) and 'pal' is found within the leftover letters.
'attire' could be 'robes' (I've seen this before) and 'robes' is found in the answer.
'on?' could be 'on' and 'on' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for paul robeson that I've seen before include "Singer of 5 across" , "See singer" , "Bass-baritone" .)