Crossword Genius

Old man — one such as Hockney losing home (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pater

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

'old' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'man one such as hockney losing home' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'man' could be 'pate' and 'pate' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'r' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pater that I've seen before include "Our Father - . . . . . Noster" , "Walter --, English essayist; father" , "Old man" , "A posh father, from Latin" , "Dad (Latin)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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