Crossword Genius

King in toga sent up criminal language (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

argot

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

'criminal language' is the definition.
'argot' can be an answer for 'language' (argot is a kind of language). I am not sure about the 'criminal' bit.

'king in toga sent up' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'sent up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'r' put within 'toga' is 'togra'.
'togra' written backwards gives 'ARGOT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for argot that I've seen before include "Ancient Greek coin" , "Criminal jargon" , "Slang of a particular group, originally thieves" , "Slang for a groat (5)" , "Talk of thieves" .)

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