Old puffer in shopping centre on a road (7)
I believe the answer is:
mallard
'old puffer' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'shopping centre on a road' is the wordplay.
'shopping centre' becomes 'mall' (a mall is a large shopping complex).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'road' becomes 'rd' (abbreviation).
'mall'+'a'+'rd'='MALLARD'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mallard that I've seen before include "Ancestor of all domestic ducks" , "Type of duck - world speed record holding steam engine (1938)" , "Oldest breed of duck" , "Engine holding the world speed record for a steam locomotive, set at 123mph in 1938" , "The famous steam train" .)