The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word TSARINA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
T
S
A
R
I
N
A
More clues leading to the result TSARINA
- Sovereign Troy has a queen in Hecuba finally
- Empress’s army once carrying nerve gas
- Ruler way back, initially named in song
- Imperial ruler cheers, importing lethal weapon
- Time a girl embraces popular sovereign’s wife
- Russian leader’s wife volunteers to hide chemical weapon
- Empress gives new order to artisan
- Artisan could become empress
- Artisan working for Russian leader
- Terrible strain on a ruler
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "one of the top Russians once" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one of the top russians once = tsarina.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 TSARINA mean?
TSARINA noun- An empress of several Eastern European countries, especially Russia, or the wife of a tsar.