Were they skinheads for years before getting wise? (5)
I believe the answer is:
sages
'were they skinheads' is the definition.
Although both the answer and 'were' are verbs, they are not in the same form of the verb.
'years before getting wise?' is the wordplay.
'years before' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'getting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'wise?' becomes 'sage' ('sage' can be similar in meaning to 'wise').
's' after 'sage' is 'SAGES'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sages that I've seen before include "enlightened people" , "plants" , "Wise people" , "Pundits" , "Learned people" .)