Crossword Genius

Drew attention to combat operations moving north (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spotlit

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

'drew attention to' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'combat operations moving north' is the wordplay.
'combat' becomes 'tilt' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'operations' becomes 'ops' (abbreviation).
'moving north' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, letters go up or 'north').
'tilt'+'ops'='tiltops'
'tiltops' back-to-front is 'SPOTLIT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spotlit that I've seen before include "Brightly illuminated" , "highly illuminated" , "that's clearly visible on stage" , "Drew attention to" , "centre of attention" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app