Time and arithmetic problems boosted scholar (7)
I believe the answer is:
erasmus
'scholar' is the definition.
(Erasmus is an example)
'time and arithmetic problems boosted' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'time' could be 'era' (an era is a period of time) and 'era' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for erasmus that I've seen before include "Old theologian" , "Dutch mediaeval humanist" , "Renaissance scholar" , "Humanist critical of Church" , "He praised folly" .)