Crossword Genius

Competitor: female on a roll? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

finalist

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'competitor' is the definition.
(finalist is a kind of competitor)

'female on a roll?' is the wordplay.
'female on' becomes 'fina' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a roll?' becomes 'list' (roll is a kind of list).
'fina'+'list'='FINALIST'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for finalist that I've seen before include "Participant in last match" , "One reaching last match" , "So far unbeaten competitor" , "Winner of semi-final" , "possible winner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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