German artist’s way with English sailors (5)
I believe the answer is:
ernst
'german artist's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'way with english sailors' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'st' (**).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'sailors' becomes 'rn' (abbreviation for Royal Navy).
'e'+'rn'='ern'
'st' after 'ern' is 'ERNST'.
(Other definitions for ernst that I've seen before include "Max __; Dadaist" , "Max -, twentieth century German Surrealist artist" , "Young partner" , "Surrealist; stern (anag.)" , "Max --, German painter" .)