Remains with the people under the 'big top' (5)
I believe the answer is:
bones
'remains' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'people under the big top' is the wordplay.
'people' becomes 'ones' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'under' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'top' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'big' is 'b'.
'ones' after 'b' is 'BONES'.
'with the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bones that I've seen before include "eg Ribs" , "Nickname for a doctor" , "Structural supports for the body" , "... skeletons, perhaps" , "Components of skeletons" .)