Crossword Genius

Satisfied after raising sleuth's rates (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tempi

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

'rates' is the definition.
(tempo is a kind of rate)

'satisfied after raising sleuth's' is the wordplay.
'satisfied after raising' becomes 'tem' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sleuth' becomes 'pi' (private investigator).
'tem'+'pi'='TEMPI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tempi that I've seen before include "Times" , "Speeds, rhythms of musical pieces" , "Rates" , "Beats" , "Speeds for musicians" .)

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