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Up-front with regard to the plane (2,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

on the level

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

'up-front' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'regard to the plane' is the wordplay.
'regard to' becomes 'on' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'plane' becomes 'level' (synonyms).
'on'+'the'+'level'='ON THE LEVEL'

'with' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for on the level that I've seen before include "Some horse racing is" , "No tipping" , "Honest, truthful (colloq.)" , "Honest - genuine" , "Fair; honestly speaking" .)

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