Crossword Genius

US spies infiltrating Laos careless in avoiding contact (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

asocial

'avoiding contact' is the definition.
(avoiding social contact)

'us spies infiltrating laos careless' is the wordplay.
'us spies' becomes 'cia' (US intelligence agency).
'infiltrating' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'careless' is an anagram indicator.
'laos' with letters rearranged gives 'asol'.
'cia' going inside 'asol' is 'ASOCIAL'.

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for asocial that I've seen before include "lacking friendly instincts" , "Not gregarious" , "Inconsiderate to others" , "without friends" , "Avoiding company" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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