The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word CANTANKEROUS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
C
A
N
T
A
N
K
E
R
O
U
S
More clues leading to the result CANTANKEROUS
- Crusty old American on container ship?
- Cross river shortly after two vessels
- Short-tempered
- “Ratty” making sure a knot can be undone?
- Two things containing oil by river largely making one grouchy
- Irritable about intelligence surrounding large ship
- Grouchy old American chasing tin vessel
- Cross river docked by container ship
- Bad-tempered worker beset by ulcer, old American
- A crank, note, disturbed us, being curmudgeonly
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "curmudgeonly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case curmudgeonly = cantankerous.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.
What does CANTANKEROUS mean?
CANTANKEROUS adjective- Given to or marked by an ill-tempered nature; ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby.