Nine act in an old-fashioned way (7)
I believe the answer is:
ancient
'in an old-fashioned way' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'nine act' is the wordplay.
'nine act' can be anagrammed to 'ANCIENT'.
However, I am not sure how the anagram is indicated.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ancient that I've seen before include "Veteran" , "showing signs of wear?" , "Aged and timeworn" , "Very old, like the poetic mariner" , "Old man" .)