Crossword Genius

Skill needs past struggling (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adeptness

'skill' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'needs past struggling' is the wordplay.
'struggling' is an anagram indicator (the letters struggle or wriggle into a new form).
'needs'+'past'='needspast'
'needspast' is an anagram of 'ADEPTNESS'.

(Other definitions for adeptness that I've seen before include "complete skill" , "Deftness, adroitness" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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