Crossword Genius

Stunt old flier created by dropping one down (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exploit

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

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

'old flier created by dropping one down' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'old' could be 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime) and 'ex' is present in the answer.
'one' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for exploit that I've seen before include "Take advantage of escapade?" , "Stunt" , "Capitalise on, take advantage of" , "Heroic feat" , "Daring feat; use unfairly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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