The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word NOVELLA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
N
O
V
E
L
L
A
More clues leading to the result NOVELLA
- Book jazz singer to appear after autumn period
- Composer and dramatist abridged a piece of fiction
- . Book revealing unusual case of Libya
- Make short work of English lines collected by star
- Short book number five by Ms Fitzgerald
- Writer of musicals finally abandoned a Death in Venice?
- Short book‘s length restricted by star
- Make short work of some old material collected by star
- Composition of two foreign articles after a month
- Short literary work Fitzgerald produced after a month
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "short work" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case short work = novella.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.
What does NOVELLA mean?
NOVELLA noun- A work of prose fiction, longer than a novella.
- A fable; a short tale, especially one of many making up a larger work.
- A novelty; something new.
- A new legal constitution in ancient Rome.
- A short novel or long short story.