The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word STERNE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
T
E
R
N
E
More clues leading to the result STERNE
- Old Scottish star meets English writer born in Ireland
- Novelist bringing Worthing’s alter ego way to the front?
- Bow before English writer
- Novelist partaking of lobster Newburg
- Small bird perched on English novelist
- Austere-sounding novelist
- Shandy maker from Holy Loch?
- Writer back on radio
- Irish novelist frowning on English
- Either part of hardback writer’s pronouncement
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Novelist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case novelist = sterne.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.