Crossword Genius

Applying first of gears to follow former pilot manoeuvring in (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exploiting

'applying' is the definition.
(exploiting is a kind of applying)

'first of gears to follow former pilot manoeuvring in' is the wordplay.
'first of' says to take the initial letters.
'to follow' says to put letters next to each other.
'former' becomes 'ex'.
'manoeuvring' indicates an anagram.
The initial letter of 'gears' is 'g'.
'pilot' is an anagram of 'ploit'.
'ex'+'ploit'+'in'='exploitin'
'g' put after 'exploitin' is 'EXPLOITING'.

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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