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Pluck the strings of a guitar that’s needed for hard rock? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pickaxe

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'hard rock?' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'pluck the strings of a guitar that's needed' is the wordplay.
'pluck' becomes 'pick' (synonyms).
'the strings of a guitar' becomes 'axe' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'that's needed' says to put letters next to each other.
'pick'+'axe'='PICKAXE'

'for' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pickaxe that I've seen before include "which may cause rocky break-up" , "weapon" , "Wooden-handled iron tool with a curved head, pointed at both ends" , "it's needed to break new ground" , "Mattock" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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