Crossword Genius

Sheriff's officer to clout without trouble (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bailiff

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'sheriff's officer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'clout without trouble' is the wordplay.
'clout' becomes 'biff' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'without' means one lot of letters goes inside another ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'trouble' becomes 'ail' (synonyms).
'biff' enclosing 'ail' is 'BAILIFF'.

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bailiff that I've seen before include "Court official" , "Sheriff's officer - landlord's agent" , "Landlord's agent or steward" , "Landowner's agent" , "Possibly menacing landlord's agent" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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