One is not out to expose the cover-up? (8)
I believe the answer is:
disguise
'cover-up?' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'one is not out to expose' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is present in the answer.
'is' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for disguise that I've seen before include "Pretence" , "front" , "Camouflage, mask" , "Altered appearance" , "Make unrecognizable" .)