Crossword Genius

An elderly person, wounded soldier crossing island taking time (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oldster

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'an elderly person' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'wounded soldier crossing island taking time' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'time' could be 'old' (old is a kind of time) and 'old' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for oldster that I've seen before include "Aged person" , "one getting on" , "Senior citizen (colloquial)" , "Veteran" , "Person getting on" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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