Crossword Genius

Criminal destruction of half of Salzburg cellar (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

burglar

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

'criminal' is the definition.
(burglar is a kind of criminal)

'half of salzburg cellar' is the wordplay.
'half of' indicates taking half.
'cellar' becomes 'lar' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'salzburg' halved is 'burg'.
'burg'+'lar'='BURGLAR'

'destruction of' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for burglar that I've seen before include "Breaker and enterer?" , "Intruder with intent to steal" , "House robber" , "Thief who enters a building to steal" , "Thief (entering building)" .)

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