French city papering over new cracks (9)
I believe the answer is:
perpignan
'french city' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'papering over new cracks' is the wordplay.
'over' indicates an anagram.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'cracks' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters go into a gap or crack).
'papering' anagrammed gives 'perpigan'.
'perpigan' going around 'n' is 'PERPIGNAN'.
(Other definitions for perpignan that I've seen before include "French city" , "French town" .)