Crossword Genius

Crook and second twister getting outside jail finally (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

swindler

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

'crook' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'second twister getting outside jail finally' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'twister' becomes 'winder' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'getting outside' is an insertion indicator.
'finally' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'jail' is 'l'.
'winder' going around 'l' is 'windler'.
's'+'windler'='SWINDLER'

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for swindler that I've seen before include "Fraudulent person or cheat" , "Trickster" , "Con artist" , "One who cheats" , "Defrauder, scammer" .)

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