Crossword Genius

Verbally attack a burrowing rodent (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gopher

'a burrowing rodent' is the definition.
(gopher is a type of rodent)

'verbally attack' is the wordplay.
'verbally' shows a homophone (sound like).
'attack' becomes 'go for' (go for can mean to attack).
'gofor' is a homophone of 'GOPHER'.

(Other definitions for gopher that I've seen before include "small animal" , "Burrowing rodent of north and central America" , "Rodent with large cheek pouches" , "skilled digger" , "Method of teaching reading by sounds" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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