Gulf crazy? I hear it is elementary (5)

I believe the answer is:

basic

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'elementary' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'gulf crazy? i hear' is the wordplay.
'gulf' becomes 'ba' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'crazy?' becomes 'sick' (synonyms).
'i hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'sick' sounds like 'sic'.
'ba'+'sic'='BASIC'

'it is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for basic that I've seen before include "At the simplest level" , "Staple; ordinary" , "Popular programming language" , "Key" , "Elementary - without extras" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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