The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word EGYPTIANS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
E
G
Y
P
T
I
A
N
S
More clues leading to the result EGYPTIANS
- Pain suffered in extra time initially by Scots and other countrymen
- Pet saying upset residents of Memphis?
- Spying tea brewed by Africans
- People from Cairo tying apes, beating up
- North Africans built pigsty near extinct river
- Cleopatra and her court's quirky pet saying
- More than one African agent I spy being ''shifty''
- Founders of the original pyramid scheme?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Founders of the original pyramid scheme?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case founders of the original pyramid scheme? = egyptians.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.