Crossword Genius

Book half of rabble, as lawman (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sheriff

'lawman' is the definition.
(sheriff is a kind of lawman)

'book half of rabble' is the wordplay.
'book' becomes 'she' (I've seen this before**).
'half of' suggests halving the letters.
'rabble' becomes 'riffraff' ('riffraff' can be a synonym of 'rabble').
'riffraff' cut in half is 'riff'.
'she'+'riff'='SHERIFF'

'as' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for sheriff that I've seen before include "US law enforcement officer" , "US county law enforcer" , "Head of the posse" , "Lawman of the wild west" , "Chief Crown representative in a county" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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