Still, the first mate has a point (4)
I believe the answer is:
even
'still' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'first mate has a point' is the wordplay.
'first mate' becomes 'eve' (I've seen this before).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'a point' becomes 'n' (North).
'eve'+'n'='EVEN'
'the' is the link.
(Other definitions for even that I've seen before include "Like 2,4,6, ..." , "Equable" , "Nearly" , "Level, straight or regular" , "Level as odds may be" .)