The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word SILVERSMITH
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
I
L
V
E
R
S
M
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T
H
More clues leading to the result SILVERSMITH
- Sea cook’s story verbally identifying worker in precious metal
- Orwell protagonist stalks Stevenson antagonist, a craftsman
- Small piece left further down? This sadly implicates male metalworker
- Craftsman’s slim — thrives in unusual way
- Metal worker to cook this after the Frenchman hiding behind the forest trees is caught
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a craftsman" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a craftsman = silversmith.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.
What does SILVERSMITH mean?
SILVERSMITH noun- A person who makes articles out of silver usually larger than jewellery.