The old man's attempt to make some dough (6)
I believe the answer is:
pastry
'some dough' is the definition.
(pastry is a kind of dough)
'the old man's attempt' is the wordplay.
'the old man's' becomes 'pas' ('pa' can be a synonym of 'old man').
'attempt' becomes 'try' (I've seen this before).
'pas'+'try'='PASTRY'
'to make' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pastry that I've seen before include "'It may be puff, shortcrust and flakey (6)'" , "Dough for baking" , "Kind of baked food" , "Dough made from flour, fat and water" , "See 7 Down" .)