Crossword Genius

Express surprise at half of them and interject (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ahem

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'express surprise at half of them and interject' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'at half of them and interject' is the wordplay.
'half of' means to take half the letters.
'them' becomes 'em' ('em is an informal way of saying 'them').
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'interject' becomes 'h' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'at' with half the letters taken is 'a'.
'em' put after 'h' is 'hem'.
'a'+'hem'='AHEM'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ahem that I've seen before include "Throat clearing sound to catch attention" , "It's said to gain attention; ah, me (anag.)" , "Cough to draw attention" , "Gentle utterance to attract attention" , "Attention-getter" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.