The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SOPORIFIC
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
O
P
O
R
I
F
I
C
More clues leading to the result SOPORIFIC
- Nodding as sweetener touching mouth briefly
- Bent cop is for pocketing one narcotic
- Concession opening shortly is hardly raising awareness
- Poor sci-fi rerun sending one to sleep
- Boring a hole has no point after stop when tea is taken.
- Poor sci-fi novel is sleep-inducing
- Sparse and poorly lit around green, back when the day begins
- Something productive in retirement?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "narcotic" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case narcotic = soporific.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 SOPORIFIC mean?
SOPORIFIC noun- Something inducing sleep, especially a drug.
- Something boring or dull.
- (pharmaceutical effect) Tending to induce sleep.
- Boring, dull.