Crossword Genius

Like guns that shoot every time? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

surefire

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'every time?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'like guns that shoot' is the wordplay.
'like guns' becomes 'sure' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'that shoot' becomes 'fire' (as in firing a gun).
'sure'+'fire'='SUREFIRE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for surefire that I've seen before include "certain to succeed" , "Always effective" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun, the Universal and the USA Today.
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