Disreputable haunts of heartless demons (4)

I believe the answer is:

dens

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'disreputable haunts' is the definition.
'dens' can be an answer for 'haunts' (I've seen this in another clue). I'm not certain of the 'disreputable' bit.

'heartless demons' is the wordplay.
'heartless' means to remove the middle letters.
'demons' with its middle taken out is 'DENS'.

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dens that I've seen before include "Lairs" , "Man's" , "Habitations of wild animals" , "Studies" , "Habitats of some wild animals" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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