It's hard to find one local criticised harshly over nothing (8)
I believe the answer is:
isolated
'it's hard to find' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'one local criticised harshly over nothing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'one' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'criticised' could be 'slated' (I've seen this before) and 'slated' is found in the leftover letters.
A single letter 'i' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for isolated that I've seen before include "(Left) on one's own" , "kept apart from others" , "Quarantined, alone" , "Remote, set apart" , "Placed apart from others" .)