Crossword Genius

I scorn struggling to take in difficult English novelist (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

richardson

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'i scorn' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'struggling to take in difficult english novelist' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'take' could be 'r' (abbreviation for 'recipe', Latin for 'take') and 'r' is found within the answer.
'difficult' could be 'hard' (synonyms) and 'hard' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for richardson that I've seen before include "Actor Ralph - novelist Samuel" , "Author of Pamela and Clarissa" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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