Crossword Genius

Being specifically teetotal possibly out of character? (7,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

against the grain

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

'out of character?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'being specifically teetotal possibly' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'teetotal' could be 'tt' (abbreviation) and 'tt' is located in the answer.
'possibly' could be 'eg' (for example) and 'eg' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for against the grain that I've seen before include "like GM protesters?" , "Unnatural" , "Saw deal this way, perhaps" , "Joiners sometimes saw this" , "hostile to principles?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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