Crossword Genius

Female match assistant? (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bridesmaid

'assistant?' is the definition.
(bridesmaid is a kind of assistant)

'female match' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'female' could be 'maid' (maid is a kind of female) and 'maid' is present in the answer.
'match' could be 'bride' (bride is a kind of match) and 'bride' is found in the answer.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

(Other definitions for bridesmaid that I've seen before include "one's holding up train perhaps" , "match participant" , "Attendant at wedding" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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