E.g. man's attempt to keep record up (5)
I believe the answer is:
biped
'e g man's' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'attempt to keep record up' is the wordplay.
'attempt' becomes 'bid' (bid is a kind of attempt).
'to keep' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'record' becomes 'EP' (abbreviation for extended play record).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'ep' back-to-front is 'pe'.
'bid' going around 'pe' is 'BIPED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for biped that I've seen before include "Man, say" , "Eg man" , "Two-legged animal" , "One walking on two feet" , "Toddler is an example" .)