Female in metallic fabric not good for ex? (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
old flame
'ex?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'female in metallic fabric not good' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'female' could be 'f' (common abbreviation) and 'f' is present in the answer.
'fabric' could be 'lame' (lame is a kind of fabric) and 'lame' is found within the answer.
'not' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for old flame that I've seen before include "Ex" , "Former partner" , "still 1 across [ALIGHT], it seems" , "Former lover" , "Former sweetheart" .)