Old priest taken in by engineer - and those in The Union sanctioned it? (8)
I believe the answer is:
stoppage
'old' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'priest taken in by engineer and those in the union sanctioned it?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'priest' could be 'pp' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'pp' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'it?' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stoppage that I've seen before include "Discontinuation" , "strike action" , "Refusal to work" , "Blockage or cessation" , "Deduction (from wage); cessation" .)