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Please can someone help me with 22d? Clue reads - hit man (surgeon once). 5 letters. I have ?AT?H

I'm not 100% sure of my answer - so I'll just hint at it! I thought the 'hit man' lead to a four-letter famous composer, whose name might be/could be the initials of a surgeon (any surgeon!). I think the fifth letter is an extra.

This could all be wrong!

Catch

Ch old abbreviation for surgeon

Cat is man

Catch is synonym for hit

Novice, that sounds far better!

Thank you so much. Now I have to try and understand the preamble. Have any of you 'got' it?

It's nowhere near as complicated as it sounds - and I thought doing all the component parts was good fun.

John is my brother and Barbara his wife....I need a push, Malone. If you would...

Barbara linked with trumpet and are the ones that are literary

John goes with can

Important and old wig are definitions

The others are stars Ursa and Canis.

All of them have a word in common

Thank you so much. If I had got old wig instead of old pig I might have helped myself....

I think old pig is all right and goes with Barbara - think of a character in a work by George Orwell.