Rogue cheats bank and escapes by the shortest route (2,3,4,5)
I believe the answer is:
as the crow flies
'rogue cheats bank and escapes by the shortest route' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'rogue cheats bank and escapes by' is the wordplay.
'rogue' indicates anagramming the letters.
'bank' becomes 'row' (I've seen this in other clues).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'escapes by' becomes 'flies' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'cheats' with letters rearranged gives 'asthec'.
'asthec'+'row'+'flies'='AS THE CROW FLIES'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for as the crow flies that I've seen before include "Directly" , "By direct route" , "without deviating" , "taking shortest route" , "move in a straight line" .)