The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word TAHITIANS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
A
H
I
T
I
A
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S
More clues leading to the result TAHITIANS
- Islanders’ expression of pleasure in some Venetian paintings
- Islanders and old volunteers whacked Scotsmen
- Paintings have captured a horse race on island
- Saint Itha converted some 16s
- A saint worried about success for an island people
- “What a hit!”, Ian shrieked, catching number from South Pacific
- Has Titian drawn islanders?
- Island folk project a hit, Ian Stewart boasts
- Bronzes found around Haiti worried islanders
- Receiving a blow isn’t a disaster for French islanders
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "French islanders" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case french islanders = tahitians.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.