Irrational and sick, putting soldier in coal production (9)
I believe the answer is:
illogical
'irrational' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'sick putting soldier in coal production' is the wordplay.
'sick' becomes 'ill' (synonyms).
'putting soldier' becomes 'gi' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'production' indicates anagramming the letters.
'coal' is an anagram of 'ocal'.
'gi' going into 'ocal' is 'ogical'.
'ill'+'ogical'='ILLOGICAL'
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for illogical that I've seen before include "not following" , "silly" , "Unsound" , "Having no base" , "Without reason" .)