The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word HERCULES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
E
R
C
U
L
E
S
More clues leading to the result HERCULES
- Roman god: he's cruel, unfortunately
- Strong guy – he’s pinching money on way back
- Poirot’s strongman
- Woman’s cryptic clues for divine hero
- Exceptionally powerful man: the man controls boxing clubs
- Labour candidate? He’s admitted taking dirty money in return
- Hard taskmaster — he’s accepted money that must be turned over
- M Poirot has a point — a strong one
- Detective’s labourer?
- A very powerful man, he controls boxing clubs
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a strong one" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a strong one = hercules.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.