They know a lot about the cross Peter’s forced to bear (7)
I believe the answer is:
experts
'they know a lot about' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.
'cross peter's forced to bear' is the wordplay.
'cross' becomes 'x' (X is cross-shaped).
'forced' indicates anagramming the letters.
'to bear' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'x'+'peter'='xpeter'
'xpeter' anagrammed gives 'expert'.
'expert'+'s'='EXPERTS'
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for experts that I've seen before include "dabs" , "Specialists" , "Forensic scientists, for example" , "Boffins" , "Aces" .)