The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ACROSTICS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
C
R
O
S
T
I
C
S
More clues leading to the result ACROSTICS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "word puzzles" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case word puzzles = acrostics.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 ACROSTICS mean?
ACROSTICS noun- A poem or other text in which certain letters, often the first in each line, spell out a name or message.
- A poem in Hebrew in which successive lines or verses start with consecutive letters of the alphabet.
- A kind of word puzzle, the solution of which forms an anagram of a quotation, and their initials often forming the name of its author.