Crossword Genius

Female's left reeling as life's a bitch in Hollywood (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lassie

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

'female's' is the definition.
(lassie is a kind of female)

'left reeling as life's a bitch in hollywood' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is found in the answer.
'as' is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'sie' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lassie that I've seen before include "Young Scottish girl or Hollywood lost dog" , "Collie featuring in many films" , "Girl from Scotland and dog from film" , "Canine film star" , "Film and TV dog" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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