The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word THOR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
H
O
R
More clues leading to the result THOR
- Times has often run leaders as “The Thunderer”
- God snatching gold from writer
- Divine figure with some authority
- God’s tough order — each disheartened
- One holding hammer still runs.
- God! That’s not half thorough
- God renders Hamlet powerless
- God, person with lisp’s angry
- Writer of books not a superior god
- Evident in umpteenth oracle from God
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "One holding hammer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one holding hammer = thor.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.