Down, lacking energy, daughter always makes time for the old man (7,3)
I believe the answer is:
fathers day
'down lacking energy' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'daughter always makes time for the old man' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'daughter' could be 'd' (genealogical abbreviation) and 'd' is present in the answer.
'always' could be 'ay' (archaic term for 'always') and 'ay' is located in the answer.
'makes' could be 'fathers' (fathering is a kind of making) and 'fathers' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?