Scholar shed tears from time to time in northern city (9)
I believe the answer is:
lancaster
'northern city' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'scholar shed tears from time to time in' is the wordplay.
'scholar' becomes 'lancer' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'shed' indicates an anagram (shed can mean to spill or scatter).
'from time to time' indicates alternate letters (letters removed on a regular basis).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
The alternating letters of 'tears' are 'tas'.
'tas' anagrammed gives 'ast'.
'lancer' enclosing 'ast' is 'LANCASTER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lancaster that I've seen before include "WW2 bomber; city" , "City in north-west England" , "WW2 aircraft; city" , "English city's" , "it bombed" .)