Crossword Genius

Stone remains, article clutched in both hands (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ashlar

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'stone' is the definition.
(I know that ashlar is a type of stone)

'remains article clutched in both hands' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'remains' could be 'ash' (remains of a fire) and 'ash' is located in the answer.
'article' could be 'a' (the indefinite article in English) and 'a' is present in the answer.
'hands' could be 'lr' (abbreviations for left and right) and 'lr' is located in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ashlar that I've seen before include "Stone used in building" , "building material" , "wall-facing" , "Rash Al could produce cut stone" , "Rectangular block of hewn stone" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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