Crossword Genius

Competent to join a section of company (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adept

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'competent' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'join a section of company' is the wordplay.
'join' says to put letters next to each other.
'section of company' becomes 'dept' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a' next to 'dept' is 'ADEPT'.

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for adept that I've seen before include "who gets the lapis philosophicus secret" , "Very skilled/proficient" , "One highly skilled could be taped" , "Having the required skills" , "Taped (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.