The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ANGELENO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
N
G
E
L
E
N
O
More clues leading to the result ANGELENO
- Backer for theatre and opera company, one from Hollywood, perhaps
- Theatre investor backing one individual from LA
- Californian good guy? Individual on the up
- Californian starts to achieve nirvana on one leg, upside down
- Nurse, single, getting over chap from La-La Land?
- A no-good English talk-show host and a resident of California
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Californian" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case californian = angeleno.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.