Crossword Genius

A pedestrian shopping area turning back one that spits (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

llama

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'back one that spits' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'a pedestrian shopping area turning' is the wordplay.
'pedestrian shopping area' becomes 'mall' (I've seen this before).
'turning' says the letters should be written backwards.
'a'+'mall'='amall'
'amall' in reverse letter order is 'LLAMA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for llama that I've seen before include "Peruvian beast of burden" , "Alpaca-like animal" , "This could carry your stuff" , "Woolly Andean animal" , "Andean 'camel'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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