The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word IOLANTHE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
I
O
L
A
N
T
H
E
More clues leading to the result IOLANTHE
- Stage show capable of providing a lone hit
- Adult hotline may reveal Savoy operetta
- Poor theologian has no go for operetta
- I, alone, misled about the short opera
- Work begun at the Savoy Hotel in a storm
- Savoy work is working in a hotel
- I love how prima donna’s introduced – and the opera
- Comic piece found in free introduction to adult hotline
- Staged work represented in a hotel
- A hotline out of order in comic opera
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "comic opera" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case comic opera = iolanthe.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.