Crossword Genius

Former queen and working mother (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

quondam

'former' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'queen and working mother' is the wordplay.
'queen' becomes 'qu' (abbreviation for queen).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'working' becomes 'on' (e.g. a machine is working or on).
'mother' becomes 'dam' (female parent of an animal).
'qu'+'on'+'dam'='QUONDAM'

(Other definitions for quondam that I've seen before include "Former (Latin) - man quod (anag)" , "Erstwhile" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app