Her gout may be more difficult to deal with (7)
I believe the answer is:
tougher
'more difficult to deal with' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'her gout may be' is the wordplay.
'may be' indicates an anagram.
'her'+'gout'='hergout'
'hergout' with letters rearranged gives 'TOUGHER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tougher that I've seen before include "Less tender" , "Stronger" , "More tenacious" .)