Crossword Genius

Thieves take gold back with hesitation, packed in ball bearings (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

robbers

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'thieves' is the definition.
(I know this)

'gold back with hesitation packed in ball bearings' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'back' says the letters should be written backwards.
'with' is an insertion indicator.
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er).
'packed in ball bearings' becomes 'bbs' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'or' backwards is 'ro'.
'er' placed within 'bbs' is 'bbers'.
'ro'+'bbers'='ROBBERS'

'take' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for robbers that I've seen before include "Violent thieves" , "Thieves who threaten violence" , "Thieves and burglars" .)

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