Like shady activities finished in court (6)

I believe the answer is:

covert

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'like shady activities finished in court' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'finished in court' is the wordplay.
'finished' becomes 'over' (similar in meaning).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'court' becomes 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names).
'over' inserted within 'ct' is 'COVERT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for covert that I've seen before include "Concealed, hidden" , "Concealed - vector (anag)" , "A fox's retreat, secret" , "Secret - thicket" , "Concealed like fox's liar" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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