Awkward rig left in wharf producing standstill (8)
I believe the answer is:
gridlock
'standstill' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'awkward rig left in wharf' is the wordplay.
'awkward' is an anagram indicator.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation**).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'wharf' becomes 'dock' ('dock' can be a synonym of 'wharf').
'l' inserted within 'dock' is 'dlock'.
'rig' is an anagram of 'gri'.
'gri'+'dlock'='GRIDLOCK'
'producing' is the link.
(Other definitions for gridlock that I've seen before include "Total traffic jam" , "Dense, motionless traffic" , "Severe traffic jam" , "Standstill" , "Traffic snarl-up" .)