Crossword Genius

Redneck regularly gets swimmer to overstep the mark (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

encroach

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

'overstep the mark' is the definition.
'encroach' can be an answer for 'overstep' (thesaurus). I'm not sure about the 'the mark' bit.

'redneck regularly gets swimmer' is the wordplay.
'regularly' indicates alternate letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'gets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'swimmer' becomes 'roach' (roach is a type of fish).
The alternate letters of 'redneck' are 'enc'.
'enc'+'roach'='ENCROACH'

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for encroach that I've seen before include "Tread on someone's toes" , "Invade" , "Gradually intrude (on person's area)" , "Intrude on someone's territory or time" , "Advance gradually (beyond expected limits)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app