Where a girl can get ahead in hairdressing (5)
I believe the answer is:
salon
'where a' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'girl can get ahead in hairdressing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'girl' could be 'sal' (feminine given name) and 'sal' is present in the answer.
'ahead' could be 'on' (synonyms) and 'on' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for salon that I've seen before include "Gallery for works of art -- loans (anag)" , "Drawing-room" , "where cuts are commonplace" , "Place of business for eg beautician" , "Drawing room" .)