The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ALCATRAZ
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
L
C
A
T
R
A
Z
More clues leading to the result ALCATRAZ
- Pen once possessed by Mozart, a classicist recalled
- Old can of talc thrown in a drawer with letter at the end
- Sale scam craze uncovered round the back of Parkhurst Prison
- Essentially, tall locals patrol Maze prison
- Jailhouse Rock
- Bay cooler?
- Cooler dude after royal’s bottom cracking princess up
- Old pen carried upside down by Mozart, a classicist
- American pen recreated unlimited black art with most extreme characters
- 9 man’s place is upset cart in middle of city in Arizona
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Prison" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case prison = alcatraz.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.