Crossword Genius

In crime, he has his own way of operating (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

simon

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

'his own way of operating' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'in crime he' is the wordplay.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'crime' becomes 'sin'.
'he' becomes 'mo' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sin' placed around 'mo' is 'SIMON'.

'has' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for simon that I've seen before include "Man's name" , "Fellow" , "Harris and Coveney" , "Peter (NT)" , "he says it's a game" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.