Crossword Genius

Cuts speech oddly in pieces (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bisects

'cuts' is the definition.
(bisecting is a kind of cutting)

'speech oddly in pieces' is the wordplay.
'oddly' means one should take alternating letters.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'pieces' becomes 'bits' ('bit' can be a synonym of 'piece'**).
The alternate letters of 'speech' are 'sec'.
'sec' going inside 'bits' is 'BISECTS'.

(Other definitions for bisects that I've seen before include "Cuts in two" , "Divides in equal halves" , "Divides into two parts" , "Cuts in half" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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