The women muddlingly made a slow start (5)
I believe the answer is:
dames
'the women' is the definition.
(dame is a kind of woman)
'muddlingly made a slow start' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'made' is 'dame' which is present in the answer.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dames that I've seen before include "Pantomime men as women" , "Knighted or slangy women" , "English ladies - American women" , "Honoured women" , "Women (US sl.)" .)