Solution for 14 June cryptic crossword clue

Habitual convict amongst female employees in a place in Arizona (9)

Solution – Flagstaff

This clue is for all of you who know your US geography.  As you can see from the solution, this is a place in Arizona.  According to Wikipedia it is home to over 60 thousand people.

So how does the first part of the clue lead to this solution?

A "habitual convict" can also be called a "lag"

And "lag" is "amongst" something meaning "female employees".  As is often the case, "female" is represented by "f" and "staff" = employees.

So F + lag + staff gives you the place in Arizona!

This clue is a container clue that also includes an abbreviation.  For more explanation of different clue types, see the sidebar under the list of popular posts.