Crossword Genius

Doug and Ben relaxed around Liberal Club (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bludgeon

'club' is the definition.
(bludgeon is a kind of club)

'doug and ben relaxed around liberal' is the wordplay.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'relaxed' is an anagram indicator.
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'doug' put after 'ben' is 'bendoug'.
'bendoug' is an anagram of 'budgeon'.
'budgeon' placed around 'l' is 'BLUDGEON'.

(Other definitions for bludgeon that I've seen before include "Thick stick with a heavy end" , "Thick stick as weapon" , "Cudgel" , "Thick club" , "Club used maliciously" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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