The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ALEXANDER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
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A
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More clues leading to the result ALEXANDER
- A large old queen eating with old king
- A country invaded by former queen, nominally great ruler
- A FT column, a new article for those in the 12, and a great leader!
- Hero worshipper bearing cross when following a former emperor
- A law accompanying Queen, great leader
- A regular swimmer’s taken by to see the old king
- A law together with sovereign pontiff
- Pope perhaps pointing to a youth who drowned holding cross
- A great man in history
- Cocktail bar relaxed Danny’s cast
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "nominally great ruler" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case nominally great ruler = alexander.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.