Voracious female in staff restaurant closing early (3-5)
I believe the answer is:
man-eater
'voracious female' is the definition.
(voracious means hungry or eating a lot)
'staff restaurant closing early' is the wordplay.
'staff' becomes 'man' (as in staffing or manning a particular place).
'restaurant' becomes 'eatery' (place to eat).
'closing early' means to remove the last letter.
'eatery' with its final letter taken away is 'eater'.
'man'+'eater'='MAN-EATER'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for man-eater that I've seen before include "Animal known to consume humans" , "Tiger dangerous to people" , "Animal killing and feeding on humans" , "Highly-sexed, domineering woman" , "Life-threatening wild animal" .)