The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ISLANDERS
I
S
L
A
N
D
E
R
S
More clues leading to the result ISLANDERS
- One speaks ill of British people, for example
- Lesbians perhaps cooking large sardines
- the Maltese, say
- Isolated ones left sardines at sea
- New York hockey team is split by malicious gossip
- Hockey team is holding talk that’s defamatory
- Hockey team is admitting malicious talk
- Hockey team is split by malicious smear
- Hockey squad is absorbing bad word of mouth?
- I give a bad name to small NHL players
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "NHL players" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case nhl players = islanders.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 ISLANDERS mean?
ISLANDERS noun- A person who lives on an island.