The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word JAMES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
J
A
M
E
S
More clues leading to the result JAMES
- Old king held back by lese-majesty
- Agent 6 in sticky situation occasionally tense
- Royalty for author
- 26 27’s protagonist fixes housing shortage, ultimately
- Food for tea needed by two adjacent sitters at table
- Saint preserve us! Polytechnic Centre replaces University
- King muddles about Spain
- Crowds outside of penultimate appearance of Derek and Clive?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old king" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old king = james.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.