The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word AVOGADRO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
V
O
G
A
D
R
O
More clues leading to the result AVOGADRO
- The physicist’s bible: a good read at first, surprisingly
- Attempt to arrest a physician pursuing a very old physicist
- Italian scientist is a very old doctor in prison endlessly
- Physicist using volume to wedge faulty Aga door
- A governor set up with a wicked rod — man of law
- 13 Briefly declare good road to uncover Italian scientist
- Good eggs coming up road rebuilt for scientist
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Italian scientist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case italian scientist = avogadro.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.