Crossword Genius

Speak hesitantly ahead of answer I repeatedly state (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hawaii

'state' is the definition.
(Hawaii is a state of the USA)

'speak hesitantly ahead of answer i repeatedly' is the wordplay.
'i repeatedly' means two replacements for 'i'.
'speak hesitantly' becomes 'haw' (I've seen this in another clue).
'ahead of' says to put letters next to each other (some letters go in front of others).
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'haw'+'a'+'i'+'i'='HAWAII'

(Other definitions for hawaii that I've seen before include "Pacific island group" , "holiday island" , "USA's 50th state" , "Fiftieth US state" , "State of the union" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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