Crossword Genius

It sounds like a girl, unfortunately (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alas

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'unfortunately' is the definition.
('alas' is used to express regret)

'it sounds like a girl' is the wordplay.
'it' becomes 'a' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sounds like' shows a homophone (sound like).
'a girl' becomes 'lass' (lass can informally mean a girl).
'lass' is a homophone of 'las'.
'a'+'las'='ALAS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for alas that I've seen before include "Cry of regret" , "Woeful expression" , "I'm sorry to say" , "Sadly, unfortunately" , "Sad expression" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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