Hero old flame accepting a ring (7,3)

I believe the answer is:

leading man

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'hero' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'old flame accepting a ring' is the wordplay.
'old flame' becomes 'leman' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'accepting' indicates putting letters inside.
'ring' becomes 'ding' (dinging is a kind of ringing).
'a'+'ding'='ading'
'leman' enclosing 'ading' is 'LEADING MAN'.

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(Other definitions for leading man that I've seen before include "Protagonist" , "Chief actor" , "Principal actor" , "Star" , "top fellow on stage" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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