Crossword Genius

Mongoose I see hotel has on menu, surprisingly (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ichneumon

'mongoose' is the definition.
(ichneumon is a kind of mongoose)

'i see hotel has on menu surprisingly' is the wordplay.
'see' becomes 'c' (the word for the letter, according to Chambers).
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'has' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'surprisingly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'on'+'menu'='onmenu'
'onmenu' with letters rearranged gives 'neumon'.
'i'+'c'+'h'+'neumon'='ICHNEUMON'

(Other definitions for ichneumon that I've seen before include "mongoose" , "Parasitic wasp" , "Fly" , "African native" , "snake-slayer" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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