Novice putting gin and nitrogen in ale (8)
I believe the answer is:
beginner
'novice' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'gin and nitrogen in ale' is the wordplay.
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'nitrogen' becomes 'N' (N is the chemical symbol for nitrogen).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'ale' becomes 'beer' (I've seen this before).
'gin'+'n'='ginn'
'ginn' placed into 'beer' is 'BEGINNER'.
'putting' is the link.
(Other definitions for beginner that I've seen before include "inexperienced person" , "Starter" , "Tyro, novice" , "Fresher" , "One just starting out" .)