Crossword Genius

Nothing between first couple of swine? Here’s the female (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sow

'female' is the definition.
(female pig)

'nothing between first couple of' is the wordplay.
'nothing' becomes 'o' (looks like zero - 0).
'between' is an insertion indicator.
'first couple of' becomes 'sw' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'o' placed into 'sw' is 'SOW'.

'swine? here's the' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

(Other definitions for sow that I've seen before include "Broadcast" , "farm animal" , "Female pig" , "Scatter seed; pig" , "Female badger" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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