The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MORALISER
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
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R
A
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More clues leading to the result MORALISER
- Pathetic liar's more a preacher
- Puritanical sort of curmudgeon needing internal examination?
- Preacher has spoken, uncharitable type admits
- Preacher as mean person getting spoken about? The opposite
- Ethicist said to bore Scrooge
- Ethical authority has spoken, interrupting someone mean
- Memory returning, dotty earl is predisposed to lecture about behaviour
- Mean type occupied by exam, sanctimonious sort
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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.