The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SANTA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
A
N
T
A
More clues leading to the result SANTA
- Hospital thanks bringer of gifts
- Hospital thanks gift provider
- Nice, request being put out to a bestower of gifts
- Insect in South Africa, one coming down chimney?
- Christmas visitor stuck in treacherous Antarctic
- Worker in Salvation Army who brings you presents?
- Christmas favourite a northern celebrity mostly hosts
- From clinic, volunteers get man sacked
- Faulty satnav restricted parcel courier
- Imminent arrival primarily seen as not too athletic
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Kiddies love" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case kiddies love = santa.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.