Devious ways to avoid overcrowding in cities (8)
I believe the answer is:
bypasses
'overcrowding in cities' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'devious ways to avoid' is the wordplay.
'devious ways' becomes 'es' (east and south - two directions. I am not sure about the 'devious' bit.).
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'avoid' becomes 'by-pass' (bypassing is a kind of avoiding).
'es' put after 'bypass' is 'BYPASSES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bypasses that I've seen before include "Goes over someone's head" , "Goes around" .)