Stumped by ‘Beat ___’? Learn the answer here!

As a detective attempting to decipher the mystery of the crossword clue ‘Beat ___’, the first step would be to gather all the relevant information. The clue provides three important pieces of information – the word ‘Beat’, a blank space to be filled in, and the fact that we need a three-letter word. The word ‘Beat’ has multiple meanings, ranging from musical beats to police ‘beats’. However, given that we only have a three-letter word, the context of the crossword is also important. In this case, it is likely to be related to law enforcement as the puzzle is focused on solving the theme of ‘criminals and detectives’. Hence, the missing word is most likely to be ‘COP’. ‘COP’ is a commonly used slang term to refer to a police officer, and fits perfectly with both the context and the length of the missing word. Therefore, ‘COP’ is the most plausible solution for the crossword clue ‘Beat ___’.