Crossword Genius

Played harmonica without working tongue (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

amharic

'tongue' is the definition.
(Amharic is an example)

'played harmonica without working' is the wordplay.
'played' indicates anagramming the letters (letters playing around).
'without' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'working' becomes 'on' (e.g. a machine is working or on).
'harmonica' with 'on' taken away is 'harmica'.
'harmica' with letters rearranged gives 'AMHARIC'.

(Other definitions for amharic that I've seen before include "Language of Ethiopia" , "Ethiopian language" , "heard in Ethiopia" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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