A girl left half in a river (7)
I believe the answer is:
marlene
'a river' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'a girl left half in' is the wordplay.
'a girl' becomes 'marne' ().
'half' means to take half the letters.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'left' with half the letters taken is 'le'.
'marne' going around 'le' is 'MARLENE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for marlene that I've seen before include "The late ....... Dietrich, German singer and film star" , "- Dietrich, Ger. actress" , "....... Dietrich, German-born film and stage star" .)