Crossword Genius

Physician left after a woman's protracted delivery (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

drawl

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'protracted delivery' is the definition.
(slow or protracted way of speaking)

'physician left after a woman's' is the wordplay.
'physician' becomes 'dra' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a woman' becomes 'W' (abbreviation eg in Woman Police Constable).
'l' put after 'w' is 'wl'.
'dra'+'wl'='DRAWL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for drawl that I've seen before include "manner of speaking" , "Speak in slow tone" , "Slow speech pattern" , "Slow, protracted way of speaking" , "Affected speech" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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