Crossword Genius

Disease rampant on the way in alien world (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exoplanet

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

'world' is the definition.
(I know that exoplanet is a type of world)

'disease rampant on the way in alien' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'way' could be 'lane' (lane is a kind of way) and 'lane' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for exoplanet that I've seen before include "distant world" , "where no human has ever been" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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