Crossword Genius

Northern Irish donkey sounds as if nose pinched? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nasal

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'pinched?' is the definition.
('nasal' can be a synonym of 'pinched')

'northern irish donkey sounds as if nose' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'northern' could be 'n' (abbreviation e.g. N. Ireland) and 'n' is found in the answer.
'as' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nasal that I've seen before include "Letter such as M or N" , "Like a twang" , "Sounding affected by cold" , "nozzle" , "Sniffer's" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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