Working times are reduced for distinguished practitioners (7)
I believe the answer is:
maestri
'distinguished practitioners' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'working times are reduced' is the wordplay.
'working' indicates anagramming the letters.
'reduced' means to remove the last letter.
'times'+'are'='timesare'
'timesare' with its last letter removed is 'timesar'.
'timesar' with letters rearranged gives 'MAESTRI'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maestri that I've seen before include "Top conductors" , "Famous conductors" , "leading musicians" , "Experts" , "great musicians" .)