The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 6 letter word STOCKING FILLER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
S
T
O
C
K
I
N
G
F
I
L
L
E
R
More clues leading to the result STOCKING FILLER
- Supply moving elfin girl is present
- Perhaps foot modest Christmas bill for this?
- A little Santa’s left leg?
- What B&Q’s doing to supply plasterer’s seasonal extra?
- Having a store of amalgam, say, for the present
- Keeping collection of data about lake and river for present
- What hardware store is doing for Christmas treat
- Minor gift for cellist after playing piece inside
- Gift in left sock getting girl excited
- Playing golf irks client – small gift is what’s wanted
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Thing inserted in hose near location of fire" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case thing inserted in hose near location of fire = stocking filler.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.