Crossword Genius

Attacks and defeats, full of energy (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

besets

'attacks' is the definition.
(besetting is a kind of attacking)

'defeats full of energy' is the wordplay.
'defeats' becomes 'bests' (besting is a kind of defeating).
'full of' is an insertion indicator.
'energy' becomes 'e' (physics symbol as in E=mc2).
'bests' going around 'e' is 'BESETS'.

'and' is the link.

(Another definition for besets that I've seen is " Pesters".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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