Crossword Genius

Passion female needs to take back romantic hero (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

heathcliff

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

'to take back romantic hero' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'passion female' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'passion' could be 'heat' (synonyms) and 'heat' is present in the answer.
'female' could be 'f' (common abbreviation) and 'f' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'needs' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for heathcliff that I've seen before include "He loved Cathy Earnshaw" , "character in novel" , "tortured character" , "Hero of Wuthering Heights" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.
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