Machine boxing fruit in gold November (9)

I believe the answer is:

automaton

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

'machine boxing' is the definition.
'automaton' can be an answer for 'machine' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'boxing' bit.

'fruit in gold november' is the wordplay.
'fruit' becomes 'tomato' (type of fruit).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'gold' becomes 'Au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'november' becomes 'N' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'au'+'n'='aun'
'tomato' placed within 'aun' is 'AUTOMATON'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for automaton that I've seen before include "Robotic figure" , "being worked invariably" , "One doesn't think" , "Zombie" , "Mechanical figure" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.