Crossword Genius

Could he possibly keep a gang leader in line? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nigel

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

'could he' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'keep a gang leader in line?' is the wordplay.
'keep' becomes 'nie' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'leader' suggests taking the first letters.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'line?' becomes 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem).
The initial letter of 'gang' is 'g'.
'nie' enclosing 'g' is 'nige'.
'nige'+'l'='NIGEL'

'possibly' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nigel that I've seen before include "Fellows sometimes called this" , "We all sign on (anag) -- politician" , "boy" , "-- Kennedy, violinist" , "Chap" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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