Club Xword

[Aperio]

While in possession of Scratch, rousing a divine spirit (7) . A?S?L?S

[crofter]

You've set a difficult one here, Aperio.

Are you sure that your letters are correct, because it is proving impossible to find a word that fits your pattern.

Usually, "While" = as , "in possesion" = holds and "Scratch" = Satan or Devil or Eblis etc. "Rousing" could mean "turn around" and the whole thing is "divine spirit" which could mean a drink of the gods!

The closest I get are the constructs of AEBLISS or ANATASS!? That's why I ask if you are sure that your letters are correct

[Aperio]

Many thanks for having a look at this one, Crofter. I've spent several hours trying to sort it out. I've checked the intersecting clues and they seem right. Here they are in order of check letters (in CAPS):
Gritty cleaner's needed as a pond's defiled (8) sAndssoap (anag)
Liver condition constricting Best's innards? (7) r(eS)ider
A battle over Shetland soil (5) yeLla
Eject or distribute collection, discarding the last Times (8) diShouse

[Aperio]

Continued..

I've just re-read my post and realised I've mistyped sandsoap.

Aebliss fits nicely but that would make reSider incorrect.

My thinking on this one: condition =rider around Best's innards (es) producing resider i.e a liver.

[crofter]

Aperio I haven't followed the entire process through, but your YELLA is not correct - it should be YARFA ( A FRAY reversed)! Good luck!

[johnalex]

Apsaras ('as' enclosing reversed 'rasp' + 'a')

[crofter]

Thanks johnalex. Long time, no see! You dig me out of a hole once again! I don't have all my reference books here to hand and I simply couldn't find a word that would fit!

I've looked them up on the web, so I NOW know what they are! Aperio will be pleased, I'm sure!

[johnalex]

Hi crofter! - Call it a draw (Yarfa 1, Apsaras 1) . . .

[Aperio]

Many thanks. Aperio

[crofter]

johnalex Just how did you fall on to apsaras?

I can find it in my Chambers, but none of my word searchers found it! I'm curious!

[johnalex]

Morning crofter! Substituted 'Yarfa' for 'Yella', giving either A?S?F?S or A?S?R?S not knowing which 'L' to knock out. Second option looked favourite and A,S,S looked bullet-proof. Then struggled with 5 letter synonym for 'scratch', convinced it was 'score' to anagram for the answer. Searched 'thesaurus.com' for more 5 letter alternatives for 'scratch'. Classic example of tunnel vision - wrong all the time. Then the penny dropped - 4 letters (followed by 'a'), another thesaurus search - dead lucky, 'Rasp' was among the second batch out of 94! Not what I'd really call a synonym for 'Scratch', about to give up, then Googled 'APSARAS' knowing there couldn't possibly be such a daft word . . .

[crofter]

johnalex So it was quite a treasure hunt, eh? I had a feeling that it would not be straightforward! It makes it all the more delicious when you finally uncover the correct answer. Well done!

[Aperio]

Many thanks to both of you for helping out on this difficult clue - not helped by the fact that one of my answers was wrong - the only island on the Shetlands I could think of was Yell,adding "a" produced "The battle of Yella"!

The clue came from The Times Club Competition, which comes out once a month. It is tough crossword with a lot of obscure words.

Many thanks again, Aperio