Director in steel works is the first to arrive (6)
I believe the answer is:
eldest
'the first to arrive' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'director in steel works' is the wordplay.
'director' becomes 'd'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'works' indicates anagramming the letters.
'steel' with letters rearranged gives 'elest'.
'd' put within 'elest' is 'ELDEST'.
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eldest that I've seen before include "First in the order of birth" , "Most senior of two" , "Most senior of a group" , "Most advanced in age, led set (anag.)" , "Firstborn; led set (anag.)" .)