Trying to get the last few answers for a cryptic crossword and I was wondering if anyone could help with the following part of the grid I'm trying to complete (hope you can follow my diagram):
The clue for R???N is "Republican first XI returns back to act as a catalyst (5).
The clue for E???I?L is "Flicker brought on by an area of calm over a small disk (3-4).
The clue for V?????N is "French rebel sees victory at the destruction of the east African quarter (7).
(I wasn't sure if this could be VALJEAN, the character in Les Miserables)
MAVEN, ENNUYED & NONENTITY above are definitely correct so any ideas with the missing answers?
2nd one is eye-wink (Shakespearean). Eye as in the eye of a storm and wink, a small coloured disc as in tiddlywinks.
I think the 3rd could be Vendean, an inhabitant of the Vendée,which rebelled against the French Revolution: V(victory)END(destruction)E(east)A(African)N(
quarter).
Not 100% sure though.
Thanks for the help dxhound2003 & mike11111. Having been given the 'EYE-WINK' answer I had to re-visit my DISTILLED answer and found it should in fact have been DISLINKED so that's the crossword now complete. Thanks again.