I appal hosts, dancing with son in ill-advised ball (8,4)

I believe the answer is:

hospital pass

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'ill-advised ball' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'i appal hosts dancing with son' is the wordplay.
'dancing with' is an anagram indicator.
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'i'+'appal'+'hosts'='iappalhosts'
'iappalhosts' with its letters mixed up with 's' can make 'HOSPITAL PASS'.

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hospital pass that I've seen before include "Free admission to all wards for one bringing" , "heavy tackle?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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