Distinguished editor not coming to the fore (5)
I believe the answer is:
noted
'distinguished' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'editor not coming to the fore' is the wordplay.
'editor' becomes 'ed'.
'coming to the fore' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ed' put after 'not' is 'NOTED'.
(Other definitions for noted that I've seen before include "Celebrated, eminent" , "Like music" , "Remarkable" , "Recorded; famous" , "Distinguished" .)