Have difficulty when soft cover on mat starts gleaming (8)
I believe the answer is:
struggle
'have difficulty' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'when soft cover on mat starts gleaming' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
'cover' could be 'rug' (rug is a kind of cover) and 'rug' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for struggle that I've seen before include "Make strenuous efforts to overcome" , "Move limbs in vigorous attempt to get free" , "Contend; very hard task" , "Hard contest" , "Strive, contend" .)