Crossword Genius

A single drop of the hard stuff? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hailstone

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'a single' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.

'drop of the hard stuff?' is the wordplay.
'drop of' becomes 'hail' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the hard stuff?' becomes 'stone' (I've seen this in another clue).
'hail'+'stone'='HAILSTONE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hailstone that I've seen before include "It lands with a noise" , "Small pellet of ice" , "Frozen pellet" , "a drop of the hard stuff?" , "Hard precipitation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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