Crossword Genius

Language crook oddly avoided a lot (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

romany

'language' is the definition.
(Romany is an example)

'crook oddly avoided a lot' is the wordplay.
'oddly avoided' indicates alternate letters (letters in odd-numbered positions removed).
'a lot' becomes 'many' (many means a lot).
The alternate letters of 'crook' are 'ro'.
'ro'+'many'='ROMANY'

(Other definitions for romany that I've seen before include "Language of gypsies" , "Gypsy language" , "Roy, man, you're a gypsy" , "one of those travelling" , "Traveller" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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