Lively people's party cancelled with father around (5,2,4)

I believe the answer is:

balls of fire

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'lively people's' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'party cancelled with father around' is the wordplay.
'party' becomes 'ball' (ball is a kind of party).
'cancelled with' becomes 'off' (similar in meaning. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'father' becomes 'sire' (synonyms).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'off' placed inside 'sire' is 'soffire'.
'ball'+'soffire'='BALLS OF FIRE'

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I've seen this clue in The Times.

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