Crossword Genius

Caught by communist, this gives one respect on street (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cred

'this gives one respect on street' is the definition.
(as in street cred)

'caught by communist' is the wordplay.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'communist' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean communist).
'c'+'red'='CRED'

(Other definitions for cred that I've seen before include "informal approval" , "See 7" , "what goes a long way on the street" , "Street --, hipness" , "Little confidence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app