Crossword Genius

One hastens with it (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

speed

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

'one' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.

'hastens with it' is the wordplay.
'hastens' becomes 'sped' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'with' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'it' becomes 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT').
'sped' placed around 'e' is 'SPEED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for speed that I've seen before include "Rate of travel" , "Alacrity" , "Rate of progress" , "Film sensitivity to light" , "Tempo - drug" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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.