Crossword Genius

Male leaving a pink drawing-room (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

salon

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

'drawing-room' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'male leaving a pink' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'male' could be 'al' (shortened version of Alex or Alistair) and 'al' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'son' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for salon that I've seen before include "Large reception room" , "Room where beautician works" , "Place of business for eg beautician" , "Establishment of, say, beauty specialist" , "Hairdresser's shop" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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