Crossword Genius

Like to hear detective who lived in Mexico (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aztec

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

'mexico' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.

'like to hear detective who lived' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'detective' could be 'tec' (tec is short for detective) and 'tec' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aztec that I've seen before include "Historical S. American" , "old American" , "Old empire of Mexico" , "Pre-conquest Mexican Indian" , "Early Mexican civilisation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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