Reluctant to quote over cutting housing costs? (8)
I believe the answer is:
reticent
'reluctant' is the definition.
(reticent means reluctant to talk)
'quote over cutting housing costs?' is the wordplay.
'quote' becomes 'cite' (synonyms).
'over' is a reversal indicator.
'cutting' is an insertion indicator (some letters cut their way into a word).
'housing costs?' becomes 'rent' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'cite' in reverse letter order is 'etic'.
'etic' placed into 'rent' is 'RETICENT'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for reticent that I've seen before include "Secretive" , "Close-lipped" , "Backward in coming forward" , "Not revealing one's thoughts readily" , "Reserved - taciturn" .)