The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 plus 3 letter word CAKES AND ALE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
A
K
E
S
A
N
D
A
L
E
More clues leading to the result CAKES AND ALE
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Work of 1 across/mentioned in speech of 12 26" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case work of 1 across/mentioned in speech of 12 26 = cakes and ale.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.