Crossword Genius

Ambush European soldier heading north, such as Cyrano de Bergerac (4,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

name part

'such as cyrano de bergerac' is the definition.
(title character in a play by Edmond Rostand)

'ambush european soldier heading north' is the wordplay.
'ambush' becomes 'trap' (synonyms).
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'soldier' becomes 'man' (man can mean a soldier).
'heading north' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters travel north).
'trap'+'e'+'man'='trapeman'
'trapeman' in reverse letter order is 'NAME-PART'.

(Another definition for name part that I've seen is " Important role".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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