Figure a girl associate with singing boatmen (5)
I believe the answer is:
volga
'associate with singing boatmen' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'figure a girl' is the wordplay.
'figure' becomes 'v' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a girl' becomes 'Olga'.
'v'+'olga'='VOLGA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for volga that I've seen before include "Major River in Russia" , "runner abroad" , "Europe's longest river" , "Major Russian river" , "River flowing into the Caspian Sea" .)