Crossword Genius

Sheep knocked over Yankee woman held in reverence (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mary

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'woman held in reverence' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'sheep knocked over yankee' is the wordplay.
'sheep' becomes 'ram' (ram is a kind of sheep).
'knocked over' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'yankee' becomes 'y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'ram' in reverse letter order is 'mar'.
'mar'+'y'='MARY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mary that I've seen before include "Disney film with Julie Andrews" , "could be Wesley" , "feature of 21/23 [NATIVITY SCENE]" , "Sinner who became a follower of Jesus" , "-- Queen of Scots" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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