A short guy picks up stick in an old wood (5)

I believe the answer is:

algum

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'an old wood' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'a short guy picks up stick' is the wordplay.
'a short' means to remove the last letter.
'guy' becomes 'lad' (both can mean a man or boy).
'picks up' is a reversal indicator (I've seen 'picking up' mean this).
'stick' becomes 'gum' (gum can mean to glue or stick).
'lad' with its last letter taken off is 'la'.
'la' back-to-front is 'al'.
'al'+'gum'='ALGUM'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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