Crossword Genius

Work with artist hiding evil thug (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gorilla

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

'thug' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'work with artist hiding evil' is the wordplay.
'work with' becomes 'go' ('go' can be a synonym of 'work'. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.**).
'artist' becomes 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'hiding' indicates putting letters inside.
'evil' becomes 'ill' (I've seen this in other clues).
'ra' enclosing 'ill' is 'rilla'.
'go'+'rilla'='GORILLA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gorilla that I've seen before include "Big ape" , "big mammal" , "Heavy" , "brutal man" , "Large chest-beating ape" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app