I left in a vessel - to guide it? (5)
I believe the answer is:
pilot
'guide it?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'i left in a vessel' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a vessel' becomes 'pot' (type of container).
'i'+'l'='il'
'il' inserted inside 'pot' is 'PILOT'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pilot that I've seen before include "Plane flier" , "Navigate" , "-- Whale; -- light" , "Person in charge of aircraft" , "Name of Mr Rochester's dog" .)