Mum and gran holding cat as their husbands talk (3-2-3)
I believe the answer is:
man-to-man
'their husbands talk' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'mum and gran holding cat' is the wordplay.
'mum' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'gran' becomes 'nan' (I've seen this before).
'holding' indicates putting letters inside.
'cat' becomes 'tom' (a tom is a male cat).
'nan' enclosing 'tom' is 'ntoman'.
'ma'+'ntoman'='MAN-TO-MAN'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for man-to-man that I've seen before include "Frank and confidential" , "Directly and frankly" , "Frankly and confidentially" , "Between males, with frankness" , "With frankness, as father may speak to son" .)