The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SUNBATHER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
U
N
B
A
T
H
E
R
More clues leading to the result SUNBATHER
- Possibly heat burns for her?
- Newspaper article outlaw pens for a tanner
- Heat, with burns, affected this one?
- Tabloid article taken into pub reveals devotee of Star?
- Horrendous heat burns person often seen on beach
- Perhaps beach attendant told lad to take breath when swimming
- One suffering heat burns?
- Person lying falsifed heat burns
- Wild bears hunt someone scantily clad
- Newspaper beginning to blush at woman’s figure on the beach
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "figure on the beach" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case figure on the beach = sunbather.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.