A veil said to be of practical use (5)

I believe the answer is:

avail

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

'practical use' is the definition.
'avail' can be an answer for 'use' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'practical' bit.

'a veil said to be' is the wordplay.
'said to be' shows a homophone (sound like).
'veil' is a homophone of 'vail'.
'a'+'vail'='AVAIL'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for avail that I've seen before include "Be useful" , "Medal (informal)" , "Help, benefit" , "Serve a purpose" , "Be of value to" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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