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Having difficulty talking to an animal, say (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hoarse

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'having difficulty talking' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'an animal say' is the wordplay.
'an animal' becomes 'horse' (type of animal).
'say' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'horse' is a homophone of 'HOARSE'.

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hoarse that I've seen before include "Of voice, rasping or gruff" , "Of voice, sounding rough" , "With strained voice" , "A horse with croaking voice" , "Gravelly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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