Crossword Genius

He takes a hard line, the beast! (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hiram

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

'he' is the definition.

'a hard line the beast' is the wordplay.
'a hard line' becomes 'hi' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the beast' becomes 'ram' (I've seen this in other clues).
'hi'+'ram'='HIRAM'

'takes' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hiram that I've seen before include "I gave Solomon materials for Temple" , "He supplied temple builders" .)

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