The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PLATO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
L
A
T
O
More clues leading to the result PLATO
- Drama not unknown to philosopher
- Founder of Academy of Sport, just about closed
- Place at Oxford — just the start for philosopher
- Short coat given to old philosopher
- Greek troops not willing to participate
- Republic’s author about to abandon army group
- Philosopher with old books having mountain to climb
- Philosopher shown up by total pillock
- Father introduced lecturer to Academy founder
- Philosopher who gets on with soldiers
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "philosopher" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case philosopher = plato.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.