The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 5 letter word LEADING LIGHT
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More clues leading to the result LEADING LIGHT
- Star of Bethlehem, for example, revealing an important person
- Influential person going first, cheerful
- Outstanding person, a shining example in 7 and 10, but not 26
- Star to introduce good portable torch, say?
- Space in literature given to frivolous No.1 celebrity
- Star of 1 across?
- Influential figure in field, mostly dull and undemanding
- Important figure in row in field, good and gentle
- Usherette’s torch perhaps picking out a luminary
- Major figure aligned with reform, easy to shift
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Influential figure" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case influential figure = leading light.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.