Crossword Genius

Has a saint to speak thus? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stutter

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

'has a' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'saint to speak thus?' is the wordplay.
'saint' becomes 'st' (abbreviation).
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'speak thus?' becomes 'utter' (synonyms. I am not sure about the 'thus?' bit.).
'st'+'utter'='STUTTER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stutter that I've seen before include "Stumble over words" , "Speech defect in repeating first consonants of words" , "Stammer" , "Struggle to speak" , "s...say?" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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