Crossword Genius

Guilty party working around bit of California (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nocent

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'guilty' is the definition.
(nocent means harmful)

'working around bit of california' is the wordplay.
'working' becomes 'on' (on can mean working or activated).
'around' is a reversal indicator.
'bit of california' becomes 'cent' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'on' reversed gives 'no'.
'no'+'cent'='NOCENT'

'party' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nocent that I've seen before include "guilty person" , "Harmful" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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