Crossword Genius

Unscrupulous man shows degree of speed, wanting evil woman back (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

machiavelli

'unscrupulous man' is the definition.
(term for a cunning or duplicitous man)

'degree of speed wanting evil woman back' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'degree' could be 'c' (C is an example) and 'c' is present in the answer.
'woman' could be 'elli' and 'elli' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'shows' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for machiavelli that I've seen before include "Author of The_Prince" , "Crafty chap" , "Italian political philosopher, author of "The Prince"" , "Cunning politician" , "Statesman of Florence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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