Cryptic crossword clue
Current item I dropped in support of the old man’s ways 5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PATHS

I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
A
T
H
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "ways" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ways = paths.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does PATHS mean?

PATHS noun
  1. A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
  2. A course taken.
  3. A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
  4. A metaphorical course.
  5. A method or direction of proceeding.
  6. A human-readable specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure, such as a file system or as part of a URL.
  7. A sequence of vertices from one vertex to another using the arcs (edges). A path does not visit the same vertex more than once (unless it is a closed path, where only the first and the last vertex are the same).
  8. A continuous map f from the unit interval I = [0,1] to a topological space X.
  9. A slot available for allocation to a railway train over a given route in between other trains.
PATHS verb
  1. To make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).

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