Crossword Genius

Fraud even rising around church (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deceit

'fraud' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'even rising around church' is the wordplay.
'even' becomes 'tied' ('tied' can be a synonym of 'even'**).
'rising' says the letters should be written in reverse (going up in a down clue).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'church' becomes 'ce' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'tied' back-to-front is 'deit'.
'deit' placed around 'ce' is 'DECEIT'.

(Other definitions for deceit that I've seen before include "Hoodwinking" , "Cunning trickery" , "'Misrepresentation, deception (6)'" , "Dissimulation" , "Chicanery" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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