Curious chaps initially trying remnant (7)
I believe the answer is:
oddment
'remnant' is the definition.
(I know that remnant can be written as oddment)
'curious chaps initially trying' is the wordplay.
'curious' becomes 'odd' (curious can mean odd or peculiar).
'chaps' becomes 'men' (chap means a man).
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'trying' is 't'.
'odd'+'men'+'t'='ODDMENT'
(Other definitions for oddment that I've seen before include "One of a broken set" , "Leftover piece" , "Leftover item" , "Curiosity, peculiarity" , "Just a bit left" .)