Regular criminals beat time (8)

I believe the answer is:

constant

'regular' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'criminals beat time' is the wordplay.
'criminals' becomes 'cons'.
'beat' becomes 'tan' (I've seen this before).
'time' becomes 't'.
'cons'+'tan'+'t'='CONSTANT'

(Other definitions for constant that I've seen before include "Recurring and unchanging" , "Faithful - unchanging" , "Endless" , "Continuous" , "Perpetual" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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