Chap having a sterling time at present (3)
I believe the answer is:
lad
'chap' is the definition.
'a sterling time at present' is the wordplay.
'a sterling time' becomes 'l' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'present' becomes 'ad'.
'l'+'ad'='LAD'
'having' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lad that I've seen before include "Boy, familiar" , "A young chap into ballads" , "Youngster" , "Boy or youth" , "Stable worker" .)