Crossword Genius

By word of mouth, when you gather round beforehand (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

orally

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

'by word of mouth' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'gather round beforehand' is the wordplay.
'gather' becomes 'rally' (rallying is a kind of gathering**).
'round' becomes 'o' (round can mean a round object).
'beforehand' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'rally' put after 'o' is 'ORALLY'.

'when you' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for orally that I've seen before include "given by mouth" , "By (word of) mouth" , "By spoken word" , "How anyone would speak" , "How one speaks" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.