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Delicate
flower
picked
up
by
female?
On
the
contrary
(5)
Delicate flower picked up by female? On the contrary (5)
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The definition is at the beginning of the clue.
How the clue works
So Delicate is your definition — think fairy-like and dainty. The trickery is in 'flower', which here means something that flows, i.e. a river — NILE — then you pop F in for 'female' to get NIFLE, and 'on the contrary' tells you to reverse the whole lot.