Gets the better of bloke in public works (13)

I believe the answer is:

outmanoeuvres

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'gets the better' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'bloke in public works' is the wordplay.
'bloke' becomes 'man' (I've seen this in other clues).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'public' becomes 'out' (I've seen this before).
'works' becomes 'oeuvres' (I've seen this before**).
'out'+'oeuvres'='outoeuvres'
'man' placed into 'outoeuvres' is 'OUTMANOEUVRES'.

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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