Crossword Genius

Are the people in Twinhills plagued by him? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tormentor

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

'twinhills plagued by him?' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'are the people' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'people' could be 'men' (men are people) and 'men' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tormentor that I've seen before include "Who would tease" , "One causes distress" , "One harassing" , "One giving great pain or annoyance" , "Crossword setter maybe" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app