Crossword Genius

Talk till Tom's out of breath? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chat

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'talk till' is the definition.
'chat' can be an answer for 'talk' (chat can mean to talk). I'm not sure about the 'till' bit.

'tom's out of breath?' is the wordplay.
'tom' becomes 'cat' (a tom is a male cat).
'out' indicates putting letters inside.
'of breath?' becomes 'h' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cat' enclosing 'h' is 'CHAT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chat that I've seen before include "Rabbit" , "Talk informally; bird" , "Friendly talk" , "Gossip" , "gas" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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