Old sailor in auto short on gas (8)
I believe the answer is:
argonaut
'old sailor' is the definition.
'argonaut' can be an answer for 'sailor' (I have seen 'Classical sailor' mean 'argonaut' so perhaps 'sailor' could also mean 'argonaut'). I'm unsure of the 'old' bit.
'auto short on gas' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'gas' becomes 'argon' (argon is a gas).
'auto' with its last letter taken away is 'aut'.
'aut' after 'argon' is 'ARGONAUT'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for argonaut that I've seen before include "One accompanied Jason to find the Golden Fleece" , "Ancient mariner" , "legendary sailor" , "Member of Jason's crew" , "One of Jason's crew" .)