Maybe captain's lip to bowler? (5,3)

I believe the answer is:

brass hat

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But I can't explain it at all! Could you help me understand?

(Other definitions for brass hat that I've seen before include "High-ranking army officer" , "Certainly no private" , "general? Possibly" , "High-ranking officer in armed forces (colloq.)" , "Top-ranking officer" .)

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