Horrid type of slip packed by old duchess on vacation? (6)
I believe the answer is:
odious
'horrid' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'type of slip packed by old duchess on vacation?' is the wordplay.
'type of slip' becomes 'iou' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'packed' is an insertion indicator (some letters are packed into others).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'on vacation?' means to remove the middle letters (I've seen 'on vacation' mean this).
'duchess' with its centre removed is 'ds'.
'o' put next to 'ds' is 'ods'.
'iou' put into 'ods' is 'ODIOUS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for odious that I've seen before include "Detestable, greatly disliked" , "offensive" , "Comparisons are said to be thus" , "Contemptible" , "Abominable, detestable" .)