Crossword Genius

Forestalled being guillotined? (6,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

headed off

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

'forestalled' is the definition.
(heading off is a kind of forestalling)

'being guillotined?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'being' could be 'head' (head is a kind of being) and 'head' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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