Maiden of frugality (3)

I believe the answer is:

gal

'maiden' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'of frugality' is the wordplay.
'of' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'GAL' is hidden in the letters of 'frugality'.

(Other definitions for gal that I've seen before include "Girl from American west" , "An American girl, cowboy vintage" , "miss" , "US female" , "measure of acceleration?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.

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