Drop of the hard stuff? (9)
I believe the answer is:
hailstone
'drop' is the definition.
(I have seen 'drop of ice' mean 'hailstone' so perhaps 'drop' could also mean 'hailstone')
'the hard stuff?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'hard' could be 'h' and 'h' is located in the answer.
'stuff?' could be 'stone' (stone is a kind of stuff) and 'stone' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ail' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hailstone that I've seen before include "sign of cold weather" , "a drop of the hard stuff?" , "Frozen raindrop" , "Small pellet of ice" , "drop of ice" .)