Crossword Genius

A lot of ladies failing to be perfect (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ideal

'be perfect' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'a lot of ladies failing' is the wordplay.
'a lot of' means to remove the last letter (a lot of but not all of the word).
'failing' indicates an anagram (a failed spelling of the word).
'ladies' with its final letter removed is 'ladie'.
'ladie' with letters rearranged gives 'IDEAL'.

'to' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for ideal that I've seen before include "Embodying perfection" , "Cutting/stabbing weapons" , "To which one aspires" , "Just the ticket" , "unlikely to be bettered?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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