Crossword Genius

Knight getting silver, engaged in challenges in times long ago (4,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dark ages

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'times long ago' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to time as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'knight getting silver engaged in challenges' is the wordplay.
'knight' becomes 'k'.
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'silver' becomes 'Ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'engaged in' is an insertion indicator.
'challenges' becomes 'dares' (daring is a kind of challenging).
'k'+'ag'='kag'
'kag' going into 'dares' is 'DARK AGES'.

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dark ages that I've seen before include "when the record is blank?" , "Unenlightened period?" , "Period after the fall of the Roman Empire" , "Period c AD500-1100" , ""unenlightened" Times" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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