The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word LIBRETTI
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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More clues leading to the result LIBRETTI
- Start to learn about Tibet suppressing resistance, before one books
- Texts of operas Britten mostly composed after 51
- Books in the same place, with litter strewn about
- I am after unusually brittle operatic books
- Story time? It reflected including British words for operas
- Lots of words for music at party, awfully trite
- Product of Gilbert, heading off with it
- Patience, say, could come from such books
- Opposing article in Rome bitter about musical texts
- Texts left one terribly bitter
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Product of Gilbert, heading off with it" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case product of gilbert, heading off with it = libretti.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 LIBRETTI mean?
LIBRETTI noun- The text of a dramatic musical work, such as an opera.
- A book containing such a text.