Crossword Genius

They work tirelessly, packing cut fruit in Gold Coast's centre (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

automata

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'they work tirelessly packing cut fruit' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.

'gold coast's centre' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'automat' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'coast's' becomes 'littoral zone's' (littoral zone is a kind of coast).
'centre' indicates the central letters.
The centre of 'littoralzones' is 'a'.
'automat'+'a'='AUTOMATA'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for automata that I've seen before include "group of robots?" , "set of robots" , "Mechanical figures" , "Mechanical humans" , "They don't think" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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