Youngster turning up at central Stepney (3)
I believe the answer is:
pup
'youngster' is the definition.
(a pup is a young dog)
'up at central stepney' is the wordplay.
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'central' says to take the centre.
The middle letter of 'stepney' is 'p'.
'up' after 'p' is 'PUP'.
'turning' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pup that I've seen before include "Young seal" , "Youngster" , "Small palindromic dog" , "Young of various animals" , "Young of canines" .)