The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DECEMBER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
D
E
C
E
M
B
E
R
More clues leading to the result DECEMBER
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Part of year that includes the present time" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case part of year that includes the present time = december.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.