Crossword Genius

Speech impediment (4)

Ross

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4

7

heckler

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'impediment?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.

'speech' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'speech' could be 'heck' (heck is a kind of speech) and 'heck' is present 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 heckler that I've seen before include "One interrupting speech" , "Political barracker" , "Person who jeers speaker from the crowd" , "One interrupts a public speaker with abusive comments" , "Unruly audience member" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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