Work at a trade partly lacking skill (3)
I believe the answer is:
ply
'work at' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'partly lacking skill' is the wordplay.
'lacking' is a deletion indicator.
'skill' becomes 'art' (both can mean a talent).
'partly' with 'art' taken away is 'PLY'.
'a trade' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ply that I've seen before include "Work steadily at the strand or layer" , "drama one's missed" , "Layer of folded material" , "Travel a route regularly" , "Laminate thickness" .)