Crossword Genius

Thought first of ladies supreme (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ideal

'supreme' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'thought first of ladies' is the wordplay.
'thought' becomes 'idea' ('idea' can be a synonym of 'thought'**).
'first of' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'ladies' is 'l'.
'idea'+'l'='IDEAL'

(Other definitions for ideal that I've seen before include "Optimum" , "Perfect but not likely to become a reality" , "Standard to aim for" , "In her dreams" , "Very eager (to see)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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