Crossword Genius

Weakling needs hard, difficult practice (3-7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

run-through

'practice' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'weakling needs hard difficult' is the wordplay.
'weakling' becomes 'runt' (I've seen this before).
'needs' says to put letters next to each other.
'hard' becomes 'h'.
'difficult' becomes 'rough' ('rough' can be similar in meaning to 'difficult'**).
'runt'+'h'+'rough'='RUN-THROUGH'

(Another definition for run-through that I've seen is " Practice".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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