A crime solved while in New World (8)
I believe the answer is:
americas
'new world' is the definition.
(the New World means North and South America)
'a crime solved while' is the wordplay.
'solved' indicates anagramming the letters (the anagram must be solved).
'while' becomes 'as' (eg 'while I walked' means 'as I walked').
'crime' anagrammed gives 'meric'.
'a'+'meric'+'as'='AMERICAS'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for americas that I've seen before include "Two continents" , "North and South, they're continents" .)