Effort of female put down (4)
I believe the answer is:
feat
'effort' is the definition.
(I know that effort can be written as feat)
'female put down' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'female' could be 'f' (common abbreviation) and 'f' is found within the answer.
'down' could be 'eat' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'eat' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for feat that I've seen before include "Courageous act" , "Notable achievement" , "Great deed" , "Achievement needing great courage or skill" , "Significant achievement" .)