Covering in ketchup brings suggestive quality (9)
I believe the answer is:
sauciness
'suggestive quality' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'covering in ketchup' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'in' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'brings' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sauciness that I've seen before include "a characteristic of salsa, say" , "Impertinence, cheekiness" , "Causes sin in jaunty or impudent state" , "Brass" , "Causes sin through kind of impudence" .)