Thief supposedly cleaned up image to win power (6)
I believe the answer is:
magpie
'thief supposedly cleaned' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'up image to win power' is the wordplay.
'up' indicates an anagram (letters get chucked up).
'to win' is an insertion indicator (some letters win or obtain others).
'power' becomes 'p' (symbol in physics).
'image' with letters rearranged gives 'magie'.
'magie' placed around 'p' is 'MAGPIE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for magpie that I've seen before include "Pied bird" , "winger" , "Chatterbox" , "chatty bird" , "Bird of the crow family" .)