Crossword Genius

Watch me infiltrating bank that is extremely conservative (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

timepiece

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

'watch' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'me infiltrating bank that is extremely conservative' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'me' could be 'i' and 'i' is found in the answer.
'conservative' could be 'c' (UK political abbreviation) and 'c' is found within the answer.
'that is' could be 'ie' (short for Latin 'id est', 'that is') and 'ie' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for timepiece that I've seen before include "hunter, perhaps" , "alarm, perhaps" , "that sounds the alarm?" , "Maybe watch" , "Watch, say" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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