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Little devil is on dope and ecstasy - it's hard to get through (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impasse

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'hard to get through' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'little devil is on dope and ecstasy' is the wordplay.
'little devil' becomes 'imp' (I've seen this before).
'is on' says to put letters next to each other.
'dope' becomes 'ass'.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'ecstasy' becomes 'e' (informal term for the drug).
'imp'+'ass'+'e'='IMPASSE'

'it's' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for impasse that I've seen before include "cul-de-sac" , "Stalemate situation" , "'Deadlock, no progress can be made (7)'" , "'Deadlock, stalemate (7)'" , "hopeless situation?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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