Crossword Genius

Call investigator a novice (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dial

'call' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)

'investigator a novice' is the wordplay.
'investigator' becomes 'di' (abbreviation for detective inspector).
'novice' becomes 'l' (abbreviation for Learner e.g. on UK cars).
'di'+'a'+'l'='DIAL'

(Other definitions for dial that I've seen before include "Select a telephone number" , "Ring the clock-face" , "Coil of yarn" , "Part of old telephone" , "Face of a timepiece" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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