Crossword Genius

Badly mistreat an old puffer? (5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

steam train

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

'old puffer?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'badly mistreat an' is the wordplay.
'badly' indicates an anagram (letters in the wrong order).
'mistreat'+'an'='mistreatan'
'mistreatan' anagrammed gives 'STEAM TRAIN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for steam train that I've seen before include "that runs on-line?" , "Type of locomotive" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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