The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word MEKONG
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
M
E
K
O
N
G
More clues leading to the result MEKONG
- King stopping gnome swimming in river
- Source of Chinese fish Ken Hom put in stew, not hot but good, …
- End of battle among soldiers on surface of great Chinese river
- Running through Asia, big ape reveals his identity
- Dare arch-enemy to be seen by source of Ganges River
- Monkey endlessly gambolling alongside grand Asian river
- Naughty gnome ate king's flower
- Violent gnome captured king at river
- Solecistic declaration from ape-king in Asian river?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "river" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case river = mekong.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.