Crossword Genius

Top-of-the-range garment for a snowman? (9,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stovepipe hat

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

'a snowman?' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'top-of-the-range garment' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'top' could be 'hat' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'hat' is present in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for stovepipe hat that I've seen is " Tall headgear".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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