Old earl and duke near country inn’s entrance (8)
I believe the answer is:
disraeli
'old earl' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'duke near country inn's entrance' is the wordplay.
'duke' becomes 'd' (abbreviation).
'near' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'country' becomes 'israel' (Israel is an example).
'entrance' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'inns' is 'i'.
'd'+'israel'+'i'='DISRAELI'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for disraeli that I've seen before include "One of Queen Victoria's prime ministers" , "Victorian statesman" , "Queen Victoria's favourite prime minister, d. 1881" , "Ali dries out for the former British prime minister" , "Victorian prime minster" .)