Crossword Genius

Player ultimately both managed to beat (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

throb

'beat' is the definition.
(throbbing is a kind of beating)

'player ultimately both managed' is the wordplay.
'ultimately' says to take the final letters.
'managed' indicates an anagram.
The final letter of 'player' is 'r'.
'r'+'both'='rboth'
'rboth' with letters rearranged gives 'THROB'.

'to' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for throb that I've seen before include "Pulse" , "Beat rhythmically" , "Pound" , "Palpitate, quiver (with emotion)" , "Strong regular beat" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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