Evil criminals in papers mistook removing front runner as not thought out (3-10)
I believe the answer is:
ill-considered
'not thought out' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'evil criminals in papers mistook removing front runner' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'evil' could be 'ill' (as in doing people ill) and 'ill' is found in the answer.
'criminals' could be 'cons' (short for convicts) and 'cons' is present in the answer.
'papers' could be 'id' (identification papers) and 'id' is located in the answer.
'runner' could be 'red' (Red River is an example) and 'red' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ill-considered that I've seen before include "Badly thought out" , "Rash" , "Foolish" , "Not carefully planned" , "End collier I/Ds? (anag)" .)