Earl passed over after working with a single duke? (3-6)
I believe the answer is:
one-handed
'with a single duke?' is the definition.
(duke can mean someone's fist)
'earl passed over after working' is the wordplay.
'earl' becomes 'e'.
'passed over' becomes 'handed' (as in passing or handing something to someone).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'working' becomes 'on' (on can mean working or activated).
'e'+'handed'='ehanded'
'ehanded' after 'on' is 'ONE-HANDED'.
(Other definitions for one-handed that I've seen before include "very short of staff?" , "Not fully getting to grips with things" .)