Rowdy hermits — ridiculous! That's clever writing? (12)
I believe the answer is:
wordsmithery
'clever writing?' is the definition.
'rowdy hermits ridiculous' is the wordplay.
'ridiculous' indicates an anagram.
'rowdy'+'hermits'='rowdyhermits'
'rowdyhermits' with letters rearranged gives 'WORDSMITHERY'.
'that's' is the link.
(Other definitions for wordsmithery that I've seen before include "use of "language"" , "coinage" .)