Crossword Genius

Make excellent at packing grain (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fabricate

'make' is the definition.
(fabricating is a kind of making)

'excellent at packing grain' is the wordplay.
'excellent' becomes 'fab' (slang abbreviation of fabulous).
'packing' indicates putting letters inside.
'grain' becomes 'rice' (rice is a kind of grain**).
'at' placed inside 'rice' is 'ricate'.
'fab'+'ricate'='FABRICATE'

(Other definitions for fabricate that I've seen before include "Invent or manufacture a story" , "forge" , "Make up; manufacture" , "Construct or invent" , "Tell lies" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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