Crossword Genius

A girl, having left university, gathering lilac (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lucilla

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a girl' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'left university gathering lilac' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation as in UMass).
'gathering' is an anagram indicator (letters gathered in a new way).
'lilac' with letters rearranged gives 'cilla'.
'l'+'u'+'cilla'='LUCILLA'

'having' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app