The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SOLITAIRE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
O
L
I
T
A
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R
E
More clues leading to the result SOLITAIRE
- Diamond, perhaps? It is real, surprisingly, set around ring
- Broadcast probing a lot of TS Eliot hammered a gem
- Finding this gemstone requires patience
- Patience tried endlessly as oil wasted
- Character like that on burning river
- Sun god – it almost voiced patience
- Patience has very bright flower
- Father takes hold of precocious young girl blowing top in game
- A gem of a game?
- Game for American flyer
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "patience" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case patience = solitaire.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 SOLITAIRE mean?
SOLITAIRE noun- A person who lives alone; a recluse or hermit.
- A game for one person, played on a board with pegs or balls, in which the object is, beginning with all the places filled except one, to remove all but one of the pieces by "jumping", as in draughts.
- Any of various card games that can be played by one person. Called patience in the rest of the world.
- An extinct bird related to the dodo, Pezophaps solitaria, Rodrigues solitaire, that lived on the island of Rodrigues.
- An extinct bird formerly believed to be related to the dodo, more precisely Réunion solitaire, Raphus solitarius, now preferably Réunion ibis, Threskiornis solitarius.
- One of several American species of bird in the genus Myadestes in the thrush family.
- A single gem, usually a diamond, mounted in a piece of jewellery by itself.
- A black neck ribbon worn with a bag wig in the 18th century.
- Living or being alone; solitary