The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 9 letter word JOHN CONSTABLE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
J
O
H
N
C
O
N
S
T
A
B
L
E
More clues leading to the result JOHN CONSTABLE
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Drawer once" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case drawer once = john constable.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.