In general, answer was recalled with difficulty (2,1,5)
I believe the answer is:
as a whole
'in general' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'answer was recalled with difficulty' is the wordplay.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'recalled' says the letters should be written backwards (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'difficulty' becomes 'hole' (hole can mean a difficult situation).
'was' in reverse letter order is 'saw'.
'a'+'saw'+'hole'='AS A WHOLE'
(Other definitions for as a whole that I've seen before include "completely" , "In general" .)