The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word TURGENEV
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
U
R
G
E
N
E
V
More clues leading to the result TURGENEV
- Author’s short book about most of Swiss city
- Russian novelist yearning to cut revolutionary opening
- Press involved in backing outlet for novelist
- Russian writer, having invited press in, opening up
- Novelist’s revolutionary opening enthrals press
- In France, you never go wild about German
- Doctor brought up nurses to encourage new writer
- Russian writer Government engaged in unusual venture
- Press baron finally introduced to left-leaning screen writer
- This writer didn’t urge never-ending embraces
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 = turgenev.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.