Crossword Genius

Hostile West African country gets biting insect around November (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

malignant

'hostile' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'west african country gets biting insect around november' is the wordplay.
'west african country' becomes 'mali' (I've seen this before).
'gets' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'biting insect' becomes 'gnat' (I've seen this before).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'november' becomes 'n' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'gnat' going around 'n' is 'gnant'.
'mali'+'gnant'='MALIGNANT'

(Other definitions for malignant that I've seen before include "Seeking to harm others" , "Very bad" , "Feeling or showing great ill will, cancerous" , "Spiteful" , "Not benign" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.