Crossword Genius

Sword of thin aluminium? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

foil

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

'sword' is the definition.
(foil is a kind of sword)

'of thin aluminium?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'fil' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for foil that I've seen before include "hamper" , "Blunt sword with a button on the end" , "Prevent from succeeding" , "Thwart - contrasting thing - sword" , "Check" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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