Crossword Genius

A female pigeon's tail, grey (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ashen

'grey' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a female pigeon's tail' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'she' (I've seen this before**).
'tail' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'pigeon' is 'n'.
'a'+'she'+'n'='ASHEN'

(Other definitions for ashen that I've seen before include "White-faced" , "pasty" , "Unhealthily pale" , "Wan, pale" , "White" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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