The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 8 letter word GOANNA (HOBNOB)
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
G
O
A
N
N
A
(
H
O
B
N
O
B
)
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "monitor lizard" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case monitor lizard = goanna (hobnob).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.