Crossword Genius

Weapon criminal holds level (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

balanced

'level' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'weapon criminal holds' is the wordplay.
'weapon' becomes 'lance' (lance is a kind of weapon).
'criminal' becomes 'bad'.
'holds' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'lance' put within 'bad' is 'BALANCED'.

(Other definitions for balanced that I've seen before include "Even" , "Composed - unbiased" , "Poised, held in equilibrium" , "With weight evenly distributed, or equalised" , "Equitable" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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