Crossword Genius

Penetrate heart of USA, not getting caught (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

enter

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'penetrate' is the definition.
(I know that penetrate is a kind of penetrate)

'heart of usa not getting caught' is the wordplay.
'heart of usa' becomes 'eer' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'not' becomes 'n't' (synonyms).
'getting caught' is an insertion indicator.
'eer' enclosing 'nt' is 'ENTER'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for enter that I've seen before include "Come or go in" , "Join (for the first time)" , "Fruit drink" , "Introduce" , "Record (in a log)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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