Cryptic crossword clue
Northern town with one cunning old church ruler 11

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word ECCLESIARCH

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "old church ruler" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old church ruler = ecclesiarch.
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 ECCLESIARCH mean?

ECCLESIARCH noun
  1. An official of the Eastern Church, resembling a sacrist in the Western Church.

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