Act given star billing, for best performance by a theatrical dog (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
top banana
'theatrical dog' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'act given star billing for best performance by a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'for' could be 'to' (eg both can mean 'in the opinion of') and 'to' is found within the answer.
'best' could be 'a' and 'a' is found in the answer.
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for top banana that I've seen before include "Big cheese" , "leader" , "Star comedian" , "pick of the bunch?" , "Star entertainer" .)