Quiet at the back, Roger! (5)
I believe the answer is:
shaft
'roger' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'quiet at the back' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'sh' ('sh' is used to tell someone to be quiet).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'the back' becomes 'aft' (at the back of a ship).
'sh'+'aft'='SHAFT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shaft that I've seen before include "Ray; access hole to a mine" , "A little light" , "Stem, handle; (light) ray" , "Ray (of sunlight)" , "Body of an arrow" .)