Crossword Genius

Damage extremely lucrative career (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hurtle

'career' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'damage extremely lucrative' is the wordplay.
'damage' becomes 'hurt' (hurt is a kind of damage).
'extremely' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'lucrative' with its middle removed is 'le'.
'hurt'+'le'='HURTLE'

(Other definitions for hurtle that I've seen before include "Proceed quickly and noisily" , "Move fast; rhymes with marine reptile" , "Lacking speed" , "Career (along)" , "Run headlong" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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