The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PREACHER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
P
R
E
A
C
H
E
R
More clues leading to the result PREACHER
- Retired agent ringing about a church minister
- Contact Queen following introduction to prime minister
- Vicar maybe showing power, one arriving at target?
- Quietly make contact with extremely eager lecturer
- First of Pagans, one getting to clergyman
- Her caper disturbed a clergyman
- Evangelist before long beginning to rant
- Minister and agent in retirement keeping contact
- Minister upset salesperson over project
- Her caper corrupted minister
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "He’d like to give us all a good talking-to once a week" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case he’d like to give us all a good talking-to once a week = preacher.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 PREACHER mean?
PREACHER noun- Someone who preaches a worldview, philosophy or religion, especially someone who preaches the gospel; a clergyman.