The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ELLINGTON
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
E
L
L
I
N
G
T
O
N
More clues leading to the result ELLINGTON
- Wife leaves old English Duke for jazzy American one?
- Duke, having lost weight, is a quite different duke
- Duke that wife will leave for another duke
- Duke? Duke wife ignored
- Duke is still a duke when gaining weight, initially
- Heather introduced by John, singer and
- Somewhere in New Zealand wife leaves famous musician
- Former player’s boot wife chucked out
- Duke, duke wife’s divorced
- Band leader and pianist in familiar way maybe including a lot of jargon
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Duke/j/azzy American one?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case duke/j/azzy american one? = ellington.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.