The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word SCOTS PINE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
C
O
T
S
P
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N
E
More clues leading to the result SCOTS PINE
- One needled drunk, pierced with cold quill
- One may provide deal in beds with strong support externally
- Tax back that might go into sawmill
- Ridge on course to lose a 21
- A tree northerners long for
- Short sword’s suspended on outside of leg, a feature of the Highlands
- So inspect fallen tree
- It may provide deal to get tax back
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "One needled" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one needled = scots pine.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.