The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 2 plus 3 plus 5 letter word TENDER IS THE NIGHT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
E
N
D
E
R
I
S
T
H
E
N
I
G
H
T
More clues leading to the result TENDER IS THE NIGHT
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Scott's work" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case scott's work = tender is the night.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.