Stir things up in a possibly evil way (5)

I believe the answer is:

liven

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'stir things up' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'possibly evil way' is the wordplay.
'possibly' is an anagram indicator.
'way' becomes 'n' (Compass direction - North).
'evil' with letters rearranged gives 'live'.
'live'+'n'='LIVEN'

'in a' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for liven that I've seen before include "Cause excitement" , "Make (something) more interesting" , "Make animated" , "Animate, make energetic" , "Invigorate" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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