Decoy, small, speaking with rough voice we hear (8-5)
I believe the answer is:
stalking-horse
'decoy' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'small speaking with rough voice we hear' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is found within the answer.
'speaking' could be 'talking' ('talk' can be a synonym of 'speak') and 'talking' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'horse' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stalking-horse that I've seen before include "Political pawn" , "Mobile hide for hunter - candidate testing the waters" , "Pretext; candidate as ploy" , "Trial candidate" , "Candidate put up to conceal the real threat" .)