The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word GRENOBLE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
G
R
E
N
O
B
L
E
More clues leading to the result GRENOBLE
- Work unit given backing by illustrious French city
- Good on imposing French city!
- Be longer wandering in French city
- Headless monster descending on magnificent city
- Fancy long beer in French city
- US city, described by Great Britain, like empty French city
- Worthy King Edward first to French city
- Horse minus tail impressive in French city
- Work unit set up illustrious French city
- Odd bits of garden decent in French city
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "French city" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case french city = grenoble.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.