Ordinary pieces which are published in the papers (5)
I believe the answer is:
obits
'are published in the papers' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'ordinary pieces' is the wordplay.
'ordinary' becomes 'O' (abbreviation eg in O-Level, Ordinary Level).
'pieces' becomes 'bits' ('bit' can be a synonym of 'piece').
'o'+'bits'='OBITS'
'which' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for obits that I've seen before include "No more announcements" , "Death notices (abbr)" , "ceremonies" .)