The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word CROSSWORD
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
R
O
S
S
W
O
R
D
More clues leading to the result CROSSWORD
- Bridge news: a much-loved part of The Times
- This line around ship secured by rope
- Ill-tempered promise — this?!
- What are you doing, Balls?
- Fun starting in 1913 irritated a lot left out
- Bugger your task in hand?
- Right before the middle of function, almost nod off over this
- Puzzle: bridge term
- A stern talking-to for this
- This could bar you from the Dunmow flitch
Buddy explains!

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 CROSSWORD mean?
CROSSWORD noun- (games, puzzles) A word puzzle in which interlocking words are entered usually horizontally and vertically into a grid based on clues given for each word.