Crossword Genius

Difficulty with ship entering sound (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hassle

'difficulty' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'ship entering sound' is the wordplay.
'ship' becomes 'ss'.
'entering' indicates putting letters inside.
'sound' becomes 'hale' ('hale' can be a synonym of 'sound'**).
'ss' going within 'hale' is 'HASSLE'.

'with' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for hassle that I've seen before include "Lashes (anag)" , "Irritating inconvenience" , "Annoy continually" , "Nuisance, bother" , "Pester (colloq.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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