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Spy, old woman, showing nothing incriminating (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

maclean

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

'spy' is the definition.
(British spy Donald Maclean)

'old woman showing nothing incriminating' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'woman' could be 'clea' and 'clea' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'man' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for maclean that I've seen before include "5 [HOMER]" , "novelist" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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