Crossword Genius

Going straight, criminal watches for dishonest acts (2,3,4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

as the crow flies

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

'going straight' is the definition.
'as the crow flies' can be an answer for 'straight' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'going' bit.

'criminal watches for dishonest acts' is the wordplay.
'criminal' is an anagram indicator.
'dishonest acts' becomes 'lies' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'watches'+'for'='watchesfor'
'watchesfor' anagrammed gives 'asthecrowf'.
'asthecrowf'+'lies'='AS THE CROW FLIES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for as the crow flies that I've seen before include "By direct route" , "How rook moves" , "taking shortest route" , "move in a straight line" , "without deviating" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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