Briefly release both hands to grasp a model (8)
I believe the answer is:
exemplar
'model' is the definition.
(I know that model can be written as exemplar)
'briefly release both hands' is the wordplay.
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'release' becomes 'exempt' (I've seen this in another clue).
'both hands' becomes 'lar' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'exempt' with its last letter removed is 'exemp'.
'exemp'+'lar'='EXEMPLAR'
'to grasp a' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exemplar that I've seen before include "Typical specimen" , "Ideal model" , "Epitome" , "A good model or type" , "Model to be followed" .)