Crossword Genius

Case of criminal affair leading to hue and cry (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

clamour

'hue and cry' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'case of criminal affair leading' is the wordplay.
'case of' means to remove the middle letters (outsides of).
'affair' becomes 'amour' (amour can mean a love affair).
'leading' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'criminal' with its middle taken out is 'cl'.
'cl'+'amour'='CLAMOUR'

'to' is the link.

(Other definitions for clamour that I've seen before include "Loud and persistent outcry" , "Noisy disturbance" , "Loud confused noise" , "Hue and cry" , "row" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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