Crossword Genius

Holiday report by the writer will help one to slow down (5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

brake pad

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

'will help one to slow down' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'holiday report by the writer' is the wordplay.
'holiday' becomes 'break' (I've seen this before).
'report' shows a homophone (sound like).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the writer' becomes 'pad' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'break' is a homophone of 'brake'.
'brake'+'pad'='BRAKE PAD'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for brake pad that I've seen before include "it can cause friction" , "One applies friction in a car" , "Stopper" , "it helps to slow down" , "slower?" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times.
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