Crossword Genius

King, venomous type, s-speaks hoarsely (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rasps

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'speaks hoarsely' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'king venomous type s' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'venomous type s' becomes 'asps' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'r'+'asps'='RASPS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rasps that I've seen before include "fruit briefly" , "Coarse files" , "Grates harshly" , "Jars" , "Scrapes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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