Still applies if the grip's OK (9)

I believe the answer is:

holdsgood

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'still applies if' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'grip's ok' is the wordplay.
'grip's' becomes 'hold's' ('hold' can be a synonym of 'grip').
'ok' becomes 'good' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'holds'+'good'='HOLDSGOOD'

'the' is the link.

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