The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word MASON
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
M
A
S
O
N
More clues leading to the result MASON
- Mum’s working for a member of a secret society
- One employed to style The Stones?
- Parent, with child, is stone dresser
- Pole briefly working for builder
- Native of Morocco is a charitable sort
- Male, when working, is one who dresses stone
- Novelist, craft type
- Perry maybe with plum as one ingredient
- Mother with child who is on the square
- Lodger’s degree an issue
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "One working with hard material" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one working with hard material = mason.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does MASON mean?
MASON noun- A bricklayer, one whose occupation is to build with stone or brick
- One who prepares stone for building purposes.
- A member of the fraternity of Freemasons. See Freemason.
- (normally with a preposition) To build stonework or brickwork about, under, in, over, etc.; to construct by masons