Crossword Genius

That soapy character Barlow? (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ken

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

'that soapy' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'character barlow?' is the wordplay.
'character' becomes 'k'.
'barlow?' becomes 'en' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'k'+'en'='KEN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ken that I've seen before include "Notice" , "Awareness" , "One's range of knowledge" , "Know; man's name" , "Identify; -- Livingstone" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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