Page with some mates formerly, not like now (2,7)
I believe the answer is:
at present
'now' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'page with some mates formerly not' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'page' could be 'p' and 'p' is found within the answer.
'some' could be 'a' and 'a' is found within the answer.
'not' could be 'nt' (synonyms) and 'nt' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'like' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for at present that I've seen before include "Nowadays" , "Currently, right now" , "these days" , "As of now, during this time" , "temporarily" .)