Ed’s third hit stirred up gossip (not in a good way) (4,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
dish the dirt
'up gossip not in a good way' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.
'ed's third hit stirred' is the wordplay.
'stirred' is an anagram indicator.
'eds'+'third'+'hit'='edsthirdhit'
'edsthirdhit' is an anagram of 'DISH THE DIRT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dish the dirt that I've seen before include "Spread scandal (colloq.)" , "Spread spiteful gossip" , "Spread (filthy?) gossip" , "Reveal secrets or intimacies about others" , "Spread malicious gossip (informal)" .)