Rubbed out vice around Los Angeles (5)
I believe the answer is:
slain
'rubbed' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'vice around los angeles' is the wordplay.
'vice' becomes 'sin'.
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'los angeles' becomes 'LA' (abbreviation).
'sin' going around 'la' is 'SLAIN'.
'out' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for slain that I've seen before include "Violently killed" , "Slaughtered" , "Put to the sword" , "Killed, murdered" .)