What remains after shaping deal (7)
I believe the answer is:
sawdust
'shaping deal' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'what remains after' is the wordplay.
'what' becomes 'saw' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'remains' becomes 'dust' (dust can mean a person's remains).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'saw'+'dust'='SAWDUST'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sawdust that I've seen before include "Wood powder left after cutting" , "Result of cutting wood" , "Powdery substance from cut wood" , "Powdery fragments of wood" , "Carpenters' output" .)