Crossword Genius

What made the snake stop when crossing the road? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

asphalt

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

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

'what made the snake stop when crossing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'snake' could be 'asp' (asp is a kind of snake) and 'asp' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hal' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for asphalt that I've seen before include "Mixture of tar and gravel used in road surfaces" , "Road-surfacing material" , "that's found on the way" , "surface of path" , "Dark natural pitch" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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