Crossword Genius

Talkative spud they disheartened (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chatty

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'talkative' is the definition.
(I know that talkative can be written as chatty)

'spud they disheartened' is the wordplay.
'spud' becomes 'chat' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'disheartened' means to remove the middle letters (the middle or heart is removed).
'they' with its centre removed is 'ty'.
'chat'+'ty'='CHATTY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chatty that I've seen before include "Talkative or garrulous" , "given to talking" , "given to blethering" , "Given to amiable talk" , "Communicative" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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