Sift good from bad to gain present victory? (6)
I believe the answer is:
winnow
'sift good from bad' is the definition.
'winnow' can be an answer for 'sift' (winnowing is a kind of sifting). I am not sure about the 'good from bad' bit.
'present victory?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'present' could be 'now' (both can mean the current period) and 'now' is found within the answer.
'victory?' could be 'win' (a win is a victory) and 'win' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to gain' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for winnow that I've seen before include "Fan" , "Separate the wheat from the chaff" , "Sift out" , "Blow air through (grain) to remove chaff" , "Separate chaff from grain" .)