Urged to go after former lover spoke (9)
I believe the answer is:
expressed
'lover spoke' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'urged to go after former' is the wordplay.
'urged' becomes 'pressed' ('press' can be a synonym of 'urge').
'to go after' says to put letters next to each other.
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'pressed' put after 'ex' is 'EXPRESSED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for expressed that I've seen before include "Said" , "Squeezed out" , "Conveyed in words" , "Put into words" , "Forced out" .)