The Eye 648

[ltaddy]

27a. Half of this groper’s payment for service. (6) ?E?L?R. I think feeler but can’t completely justify.

[Mamyalynne]

Don't see where the 'ler' is from but half of feeler/groper is - Fee a payment for a service

[fiction-factory]

LER - is that a railway service?

[ltaddy]

mamyalynne- that is exactly the conversation that we had. Could it be something else that we are missing?

[fiction-factory]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Electric_Railway
maybe?

[fiction-factory]

I wonder if there was an eastern equivalent of LNR (London North Western) but i don't think so

[Mamyalynne]

It could simply be that the clue is saying half of this groper is... and that's all there is to it.

[fiction-factory]

I think you're right
Half of this groper (feeler) is payment for service (fee) as you say

[cashier]

If the clue reads as ltaddy has written doesn't it mean payment belonging to the groper and not is?

[Neveracrossword]

Cashier, I took the apostrophe as Is, rather than belonging to.

[Mamyalynne]

It could be read either way, happy for a solution to this.

Will look back later.

[Neveracrossword]

Mamya, I parsed it the same as you, half of Feeler is fee, payment for service.

[ltaddy]

Thank you all! I think I am going to settle for ‘feeler’.

[sawyerhja]

So, 27a looks like Feeler indeed. The Fee bit is fine; as for Ler, the Urban Dictionary says Ler is someone who tickles (someone else). Does this now parse OK?