Crossword Genius

Quitter to desist solving opener as stunt (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

defeatist

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

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

'desist solving opener as stunt' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'stunt' could be 'feat' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'feat' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'deist' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for defeatist that I've seen before include "Quitter" , "Unnecessarily pessimistic" , "He does not expect to win" , "Attitude that failure is inevitable" , "He's always expecting to be beaten" .)

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