The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word TAVERNER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
A
V
E
R
N
E
R
More clues leading to the result TAVERNER
- Publican introducing French writer to sailor
- Landlord about to declare payment going up
- Free veteran beer finally does for publican
- Composer rating absorbing French writer
- Sailor embracing French author or English composer
- Overtax salaried man, not a landlord
- Sailor embraces author and innkeeper
- Publican upended vessel over bird at end of bar
- Old publican and sailor entertaining French writer
- Jack embraces French writer and composer
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "landlord" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case landlord = taverner.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.