Article in Times is junk (3)
I believe the answer is:
tat
'junk' is the definition.
(both can mean rubbish)
'article in times' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'times' becomes 'tt' (an abbreviation for time written twice).
'a' placed into 'tt' is 'TAT'.
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for tat that I've seen before include "Tawdry things" , "What you get for tit" , "Cheap and vulgar tastelessness" , "Utterly tasteless objects" , "Shoddy article" .)