Crossword Genius

Old English composer welcoming warrant officer's motto

Ross

I believe the answer is:

byword

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

'motto' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'old english composer welcoming' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'wo' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'english composer' becomes 'byrd' (I've seen this before).
'welcoming' is an insertion indicator.
'wo' placed within 'byrd' is 'BYWORD'.

'warrant officer's' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for byword that I've seen before include "Person or thing cited as a memorable example" , "Person or thing spoken of as notable example" , "Well-known example of something" , "Memorable saying" , "Slogan; paragon" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Mail.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.