Cuddle old writer (4)
I believe the answer is:
hugo
'writer' is the definition.
(Hugo is an example)
'cuddle old' is the wordplay.
'cuddle' becomes 'hug' (I've seen this before).
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'hug'+'o'='HUGO'
(Other definitions for hugo that I've seen before include "Fr. Author; Sci-fi award" , "French romantic writer, Victor, d. 1885" , "Author of Les Miserables, d. 1885" , "Victor -; French author (Les Miserables)" , "Victor, say" .)