Cryptic crossword clue
Some books: each had brief, overwhelming appeal 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word APOCRYPHA

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
P
O
C
R
Y
P
H
A


Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Some books" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case some books = apocrypha.
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 APOCRYPHA mean?

APOCRYPHA noun
  1. Something, as a writing, that is of doubtful authorship or authority (formerly also used attributively).

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