The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word RATTIGAN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
R
A
T
T
I
G
A
N
More clues leading to the result RATTIGAN
- Hunting vermin is pointless with a northern playwright
- Dramatist with cane holding soldier up
- Dramatist’s giant novel available at back of shop
- Playwright
- Desert giant spooked playwright
- Artist beginning to transmit work of giant dramatist
- Playwright managed to drink a dry one with drop of ginger
- Playwright and artist with dry Scotsman grabbing last of seating
- Unusually tart, I constantly scold revolutionary dramatist
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "playwright (8)" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case playwright (8) = rattigan.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.