Crossword Genius

Soviet minister gets second great deal over extracting erbium (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

molotov

'soviet minister' is the definition.
(USSR foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov)

'second great deal over extracting erbium' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 'mo' (both are short periods of time).
'great deal' becomes 'lot' (synonyms).
'extracting' suggests deleting specific letters.
'erbium' becomes 'er' (Er is the chemical symbol for erbium).
'over' with 'er' taken out is 'ov'.
'mo'+'lot'+'ov'='MOLOTOV'

'gets' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for molotov that I've seen before include "Russian statesman" , "A - cocktail is a crude incendiary device" , "Russian of cocktail fame" , "His cocktail is a bomb in a bottle" , "Soviet politician (known for his cocktail), d. 1986" .)

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.