Crossword Genius

Gentle touch required in case of foolish pilot's route (6,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

flight path

'pilot's route' is the definition.
(route for a plane)

'gentle touch required in case of foolish' is the wordplay.
'gentle' becomes 'light' (synonyms).
'touch' becomes 'pat' (pat is a kind of touch).
'required in' indicates putting letters inside.
'case of' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (outsides of).
'foolish' with its centre taken out is 'fh'.
'light'+'pat'='lightpat'
'lightpat' going into 'fh' is 'FLIGHT PATH'.

(Other definitions for flight path that I've seen before include "Escape route" , "Escape road" , "that was fatal for Icarus" , "followed by Galileo, for instance" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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