Crossword Genius

Son with the awful drinking trouble gets drop of the hard stuff (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hailstone

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'drop of the hard stuff' is the definition.
'hailstone' can be an answer for 'drop' (I have seen 'drop of ice' mean 'hailstone' so perhaps 'drop' could also mean 'hailstone'). I'm unsure of the 'of the hard stuff' bit.

'son with the awful drinking trouble' is the wordplay.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'awful' indicates anagramming the letters.
'drinking' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are consumed or drunk).
'trouble' becomes 'ail' (synonyms).
'son' after 'the' is 'theson'.
'theson' is an anagram of 'hstone'.
'hstone' placed around 'ail' is 'HAILSTONE'.

'gets' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hailstone that I've seen before include "Frozen pellet" , "sign of cold weather" , "Falling ice" , "bit icy" , "Frozen raindrop" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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