A London orchestra managed without a place (4-3)
I believe the answer is:
also-ran
'without a place' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'a london orchestra managed' is the wordplay.
'london orchestra' becomes 'LSO' (london symphony orchestra).
'managed' becomes 'ran' (both can mean organised or was in charge of).
'a'+'lso'+'ran'='ALSO-RAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for also-ran that I've seen before include "Not placed in the first three of horse race" , "Race loser" , "Non-winner in race" , "Not among the first three in race" , "Non-winning racer" .)