Irksome couple uttered a rural curse (7,4)
I believe the answer is:
prickly pear
'rural curse' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'irksome couple uttered a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'couple' could be 'pr' and 'pr' is found in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for prickly pear that I've seen before include "Edible cactus fruit" , "Type of cactus" , "Kind of 11 producing fruits" .)