The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word SHAKESPEARE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
H
A
K
E
S
P
E
A
R
E
More clues leading to the result SHAKESPEARE
- Old playwright is visibly nervous with fruit knife, at the back
- Brandish weapon, taking on English literary figure
- As poet, seek a phrase to fit
- Bard pronounced tribal leader’s equal
- Writer drinks fruit smoothie at last
- Chief’s equal, it’s said, as source of 14
- “Drab get-up”, wrote 21
- Will providing us with a rich inheritance
- Poet or speaker as he develops
- Dramatist keeps a share — quite wrongly
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old playwright" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old playwright = shakespeare.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.