The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word HUGO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
U
G
O
More clues leading to the result HUGO
- Victor, say, heading for upset after hard game
- Boss tells Grant to leave
- Novelist with great love for English
- Victor perhaps in embrace when given Oscar
- Boss of a fashion company!
- French author getting to squeeze spots in the middle
- Victor is over to undergo embrace
- Boy to embrace with love
- Man personified by endless great love?
- Victor‘s skirt — ordinary?
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 = hugo.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.