The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word IRENE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
I
R
E
N
E
More clues leading to the result IRENE
- Passion displayed by north eastern girl
- Topless femme fatale, English goddess
- Girl from Tenerife turned up
- Woman's anger over new drug
- Peaceful woman, one associated with Descartes, possibly
- Following passion, one denied love – sleuth’s inspiration?
- Peaceful girl, alluring one, topless, at end of promenade
- Woman from India with Frenchman
- Fury, one having no head for peace
- Woman capturing the hearts of both Miro and Genet
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Woman" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case woman = irene.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.