The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word EDWARD
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
E
D
W
A
R
D
More clues leading to the result EDWARD
- King Lear
- Chap involved in noted war drama
- Male journalist finally occupied covering conflict
- Somehow drew diamonds, holding ace and king
- English fighting over Germany to get daughter to an old king
- King Lear?
- Sketch of French revolutionary fellow
- King Lear will provide two examples
- Longshanks in some measure unleashed war dogs
- One guy with another dependant
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "old king/old king" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old king/old king = edward.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.