The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word ATHENA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
T
H
E
N
A
More clues leading to the result ATHENA
- Successive top marks for Olympian
- In defeat he named a Greek goddess
- One followed by a goddess
- Deity in Gaia, the nature goddess
- Goddess subsequently seen in drunks meetings
- Start of affair with next American goddess
- Articles about next Greek deity
- Wise female has article in literary collection
- One-time female’s a divine creature
- Different conclusion for a capital goddess
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Wise female" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case wise female = athena.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.