Crossword Genius

Beat the unbeatable (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

best

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

'unbeatable' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'beat the' is the wordplay.
'beat' becomes 'bes' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'bes'+'t'='BEST'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for best that I've seen before include "Most outstanding" , "Most excellent - late football star" , "former football star" , "erstwhile drummer" , "Most suitably" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Globe and Mail.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.