Garda - the one associated with Hitch - taken in by Preston King going all the way back (4)
I believe the answer is:
knot
'back' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'garda the one associated with hitch taken in by preston king going all the way' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'one' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'king' could be 'k' (abbreviation for king in chess) and 'k' is found in the answer.
'way' could be 'n' (Compass direction - North) and 'n' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for knot that I've seen before include "Air mile" , "Tangle; sandpiper" , "Tie; group" , "Small cluster - huddled group - sheepshank, for example" , "Tangled mass" .)