OK - if there is anyone here who lacks as much common sense as I do, here is the fix. The pulley was loose and just needed for the cable's turnbuckle to be adjusted (made longer).

Yep, Honda as well as pretty much all other mowers need their cables adjusted/tightened seasonally. There's a couple nuts on threaded sections near the clutch bail. Try to snug them up and see what happens. If that's already tightened or just doesn't help a new cable may be in order. That should do it as I doubt the clutch is toast as it's a pretty new mower, unless your doing commercial cutting or smokey but outs all the live long day!

Good luck.