Crossword Genius

Criminal sped away, time to act (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

desperado

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

'sped away time to act' is the wordplay.
'away' indicates an anagram (letters move away from their original places).
'time' becomes 'era' (era is a kind of time).
'to' says to put letters next to each other.
'act' becomes 'do' (I've seen this in other clues).
'sped' with letters rearranged gives 'desp'.
'desp'+'era'+'do'='DESPERADO'

(Other definitions for desperado that I've seen before include "Road speed (anag.)" , "Reckless person" , "reckless type" , "Wild ruffian" , "Gangster" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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