The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word SAPPHIC
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
A
P
P
H
I
C
More clues leading to the result SAPPHIC
- Download Horace’s first letter, thus written about like his odes
- Greek poet’s energy about to inspire one of her letters
- Fool with photo that’s captured hot lesbian
- Exhaust Classical character with constant type of poetry
- Gay chap is awfully soft-hearted
- Has turned over pages, one chapter relating to poetess
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "relating to poetess" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case relating to poetess = sapphic.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 SAPPHIC mean?
SAPPHIC noun- A Sapphic verse.
- A person who is sapphic.
- Lesbian, relating to lesbianism, or (broadly) to women who are attracted (not necessarily exclusively) to women.