Crossword Genius

Brainboxes managed to infiltrate American intelligence (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crania

'brainboxes' is the definition.
(plural of cranium - the cranium holds the brain)

'managed to infiltrate american intelligence' is the wordplay.
'managed' becomes 'ran' (both can mean organised or was in charge of).
'to infiltrate' indicates putting letters inside.
'american intelligence' becomes 'CIA'.
'ran' placed within 'cia' is 'CRANIA'.

(Another definition for crania that I've seen is " Skulls".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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