Hard speech cut, one appearing in Hamlet (7)
I believe the answer is:
horatio
'one appearing in hamlet' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'hard speech cut' is the wordplay.
'hard' becomes 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications).
'speech' becomes 'oration' (oration is a kind of speech).
'cut' means to remove the last letter.
'oration' with its last letter removed is 'oratio'.
'h'+'oratio'='HORATIO'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for horatio that I've seen before include "part of Hamlet" , "Shakespearean part" , "Nelson or Hornblower?" , "Hamlet's friend: Hornblower's first name" , "Hamlet''s friend - Nelson" .)