Crossword Genius

Explain root potential of research (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exploration

'research' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'explain root potential' is the wordplay.
'potential' indicates anagramming the letters (another potential order of the letters).
'explain'+'root'='explainroot'
'explainroot' is an anagram of 'EXPLORATION'.

'of' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for exploration that I've seen before include "Process of discovering new lands" , "Travel for purpose of discovery" , "Process of investigation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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