Crew leader gets first of the blighted grain on the wagon (9)
I believe the answer is:
boatswain
'crew leader' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'first of the blighted grain on the wagon' is the wordplay.
'first of' says to take the initial letters.
'grain' becomes 'oats' (I've seen this in another clue).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the wagon' becomes 'wain' (wain is a kind of wagon).
The initial letter of 'blighted' is 'b'.
'b'+'oats'+'wain'='BOATSWAIN'
'gets' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for boatswain that I've seen before include "I was not AB (anag) - naval warrant officer" , "One at sea" , "In brief, he's a bosun" , "4 [TEMPEST] character" , "Seaman" .)