Crossword Genius

Merciless type of woman from Takeaway (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ruthless

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

'merciless' is the definition.
('ruthless' can be similar in meaning to 'merciless')

'type of woman from takeaway' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'woman' could be 'ruth' and 'ruth' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'less' 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 ruthless that I've seen before include "hard" , "Showing no mercy" , "Hard-hearted" , "devoid of compassion" , "Having no mercy like hustlers" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).
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