The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PHILOLOGY
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
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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 PHILOLOGY mean?
PHILOLOGY noun- The humanistic study of historical linguistics.
- Love and study of learning and literature, broadly speaking.
- (culture) Scholarship and culture, particularly classical, literary and linguistic.