Leaving hostelry, Ginny and Jack doing the twist? (8)
I believe the answer is:
gyrating
'doing the twist?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with motion as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'leaving hostelry ginny and jack' is the wordplay.
'leaving' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'hostelry' becomes 'inn' (synonyms).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'jack' becomes 'rating' (both can mean a sailor).
'ginny' with 'inn' taken out is 'gy'.
'gy'+'rating'='GYRATING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gyrating that I've seen before include "Circling, spiralling" , "Whirling" , "Revolving, moving around in circles" , "Spinning round" , "Moving with a circular or spiralling motion" .)