Crossword Genius

Star's gear held without case (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rigel

'star's' is the definition.
(star in the constellation Orion)

'gear held without case' is the wordplay.
'gear' becomes 'rig' (rig is a kind of gear).
'without case' says to take the centre (letters which encase the word are removed).
The central letters of 'held' are 'el'.
'rig'+'el'='RIGEL'

(Other definitions for rigel that I've seen before include "Brightest star in Orion" , "shiner" , "Orion's brightest star" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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