Rebuke circus performer demanding your attention (1,4,2,4,3)
I believe the answer is:
a flea in ones ear
'rebuke' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'circus performer demanding your attention' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'your' could be 'ones' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'ones' is located in the answer.
'attention' could be 'ear' (having someone's ear is having their attention) and 'ear' is present in the answer.
'circus performer' could be 'flea' (as in a flea circus) and 'flea' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ain' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for a flea in ones ear that I've seen before include "Stinging rebuff (colloq.) (1,4,2,4,3)" , "Rocket" , "Snub" , "Kind of rebuke" , "A sharp reproof (1,4,2,4,3)" .)