Crossword Genius

Character of Fair City perhaps provides easily worked material (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

soapstone

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

'material' is the definition.
(soapstone is a kind of material)

'character of fair city perhaps provides easily worked' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'character' could be 'tone' (tone can mean a character or mood) and 'tone' is located in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'saps' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for soapstone that I've seen before include "Compact variety of talc - teaspoons (anag)" , "Soft rock mainly of talc" , "Soft steatitic rock" , "Soft talcy rock" , "Soft form of rock" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.