Most ancient stars to get excited about (8)

I believe the answer is:

hoariest

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'most ancient' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are superlative adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'stars to get excited about' is the wordplay.
'stars' becomes 'aries' (I've seen this before).
'to get excited' becomes 'hot' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'aries' put within 'hot' is 'HOARIEST'.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app