Crossword Genius

Up north, a sign of what's conceited? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

vain

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

'conceited?' is the definition.
(I know that bigheaded can be written as vain)

'up north a sign of what's' is the wordplay.
'up north' says the letters should be written in reverse (like on a map - reverse order in down clue).
'sign' becomes 'v' (a V-sign a gesture made with two fingers).
'of what' becomes 'in' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a'+'v'='av'
'av' backwards is 'va'.
'va'+'in'='VAIN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for vain that I've seen before include "Conceited - futile" , "Conceited, puffed-up" , "Having too much pride in one's appearance" , "Conceited - or hopeless" , "Swollen-headed" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and The Irish Times.
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