Book is abridged, plugged by newspaper - a cracker? (7)
I believe the answer is:
biscuit
'a cracker?' is the definition.
(I know that biscuit is a type of cracker)
'book is abridged plugged by newspaper' is the wordplay.
'book' becomes 'b' (abbreviation for book).
'abridged' becomes 'cut' (similar in meaning).
'plugged by' is an insertion indicator (plug can mean to block up a gap).
'newspaper' becomes 'i' (the i is a British newspaper).
'cut' going around 'i' is 'cuit'.
'b'+'is'+'cuit'='BISCUIT'
(Other definitions for biscuit that I've seen before include "Pale brown" , "Small flat baked piece of pastry" , "Light brown colour" , "type of pottery?" , "Unglazed pottery" .)