Confused mixture put right in distant past (7)
I believe the answer is:
farrago
'confused mixture' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'put right in distant past' is the wordplay.
'put right' becomes 'r' (I've seen this in other clues).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'distant' becomes 'far' ('far' can be similar in meaning to 'distant').
'past' becomes 'ago' ('ago' can be similar in meaning to 'past').
'r' going within 'far' is 'farr'.
'farr'+'ago'='FARRAGO'
(Other definitions for farrago that I've seen before include "Motley assortment - Afro rag (anag)" , "A hotchpotch, perhaps of nonsense" , "mix-up" , "Jumbled mixture" , "Confused mass" .)