In the middle of mad performance, I went in (4)
I believe the answer is:
amid
'in' is the definition.
'middle of mad performance i went in' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'middle' could be 'mid' (similar in meaning) and 'mid' is found in the answer.
'i' could be 'a' and 'a' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for amid that I've seen before include "Among" , "A dim sort of preposition" , "Maid (anag)" , "In the thick of" , "Surrounded by" .)