The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 plus 4 letter word FORD MADOX FORD
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
O
R
D
M
A
D
O
X
F
O
R
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Novelist and critic" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case novelist and critic = ford madox ford.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.