Crossword Genius

Preliminary planning for a ball, the very first to be held (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

advance

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'preliminary' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a ball the very first to be held' is the wordplay.
'ball' becomes 'dance' (ball can mean an event for dancing).
'the very first' becomes 'v' (1st letter of 'very').
'to be held' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'dance' placed around 'v' is 'dvance'.
'a'+'dvance'='ADVANCE'

'planning for' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for advance that I've seen before include "Move ahead" , "Lend money on security" , "Progress; lend" , "Make headway" , "Go forwards" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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