Crossword Genius

Teacher coming up to retirement probably worth a lot of money (3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

old master

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'teacher coming up to retirement probably worth a lot of money' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'teacher coming up to retirement probably worth a lot of money' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'teacher' could be 'master' (I've seen this before) and 'master' is located in the answer.
'lot' could be 'd' and 'd' is located in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
'money' could be 'l' (L can mean 'pounds') and 'l' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for old master that I've seen before include "Teacher close to retiring" , "Classic painting" , "Could get a picture" , "Mr Chips, say?" , "great artist" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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