The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word FACE CARD
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
A
C
E
C
A
R
D
More clues leading to the result FACE CARD
- Maybe knave fled gutlessly, having pinched snazzy vehicle
- Look after at joker, jack , queen or king
- Stand up to eccentric king maybe
- Ace in hearts, possibly, a king— and queen, perhaps?
- Expert on female wit gets one in hand
- King possibly gets to confront quirky character
- Confront eccentric king, perhaps
- . Following one rule breaking knave, queen or king?
- Queen, e.g., fear ACDC playing
- Jack perhaps following champion around on street
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "jack , queen or king" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case jack , queen or king = face card.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.