Crooked king is in bad way (4)
I believe the answer is:
awry
'crooked' is the definition.
('awry' can be similar in meaning to 'crooked')
'king is in bad way' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'r' (r is abbreviation for rex).
'is in' is an insertion indicator.
'bad' indicates anagramming the letters.
'way' anagrammed gives 'awy'.
'r' placed inside 'awy' is 'AWRY'.
(Other definitions for awry that I've seen before include "Crooked- be wary" , "the wrong direction" , "Amiss - distorted" , "Uneven, crooked" , "Wonky" .)