Crossword Genius

One cleaning firm needs a litre in fuel (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

charcoal

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'fuel' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'one cleaning firm needs a litre' is the wordplay.
'one cleaning' becomes 'char' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'firm' becomes 'co' (a firm is a company).
'needs' says to put letters next to each other.
'litre' becomes 'l' ('l' can be a synonym of 'litre').
'char'+'co'+'a'+'l'='CHARCOAL'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for charcoal that I've seen before include "Fuel - very dark grey" , "Form of carbon for drawing" , "What gets Barbie going" , "Fuel for barbecue cookers" , "Fuel made from burnt wood" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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