Crossword Genius

Motive for arson, maybe, out East (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

reason

'motive' is the definition.
(reason is a kind of motive)

'arson maybe out east' is the wordplay.
'maybe' indicates anagramming the letters.
'out' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'east' becomes 'e' ('E' can be a synonym of 'east').
'arson' anagrammed gives 'rason'.
'rason' placed around 'e' is 'REASON'.

'for' is the link.

(Other definitions for reason that I've seen before include "Sanity and logic" , "Motive; argue" , "Cause, justification" , "Cause; think logically" , "Cause - logic" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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