The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PASADENA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
A
S
A
D
E
N
A
More clues leading to the result PASADENA
- Write article about a miserable place in California
- City in Pennsylvania, and port in South America
- Californian city as soon as possible returned DNA sample, finally enclosed
- Ebbing, a tide keeping down in California city
- Father’s unhappy over girl in California
- Dad with downcast girl in city in 23
- Returned without delay to study area – this one’s in the US
- Writer has article about a sorrowful American city
- City in Pennsylvania, and port in South Africa
- Dad going to port in South Africa or city in America?
Buddy explains!

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.