Crossword Genius

Female sheep from the south with curly tail (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mary

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'female' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'sheep from the south with curly tail' is the wordplay.
'sheep' becomes 'ram' (male sheep).
'from the south' is a reversal indicator (in a down clue, letters go up).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'tail' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'curly' is 'y'.
'ram' reversed gives 'mar'.
'mar'+'y'='MARY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mary that I've seen before include "-- Queen of Scots" , "feature of 21/23 [NATIVITY SCENE]" , "Mother of Jesus" , "See 2" , "Sinner who became a follower of Jesus" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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