Crossword Genius

Detective's men reportedly in plain clothes? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

disguise

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

'plain clothes?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.

'detective's men reportedly' is the wordplay.
'detective's' becomes 'di's' (Detective Inspector).
'men' becomes 'guys' (guy can informally mean a man).
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'guys' sounds like 'guise'.
'dis'+'guise'='DISGUISE'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for disguise that I've seen before include "front" , "Pretence" , "Conceal (a feeling)" , "Make unrecognizable" , "Conceal (one's identity)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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