This writer's needing work, giving hint (5)
I believe the answer is:
imply
'hint' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'this writer's needing work' is the wordplay.
'this writer's' becomes 'im' (the person writing the crossword clues).
'needing' says to put letters next to each other.
'work' becomes 'ply' (I've seen this before**).
'im'+'ply'='IMPLY'
'giving' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for imply that I've seen before include "Intimate, suggest indirectly" , "Mean" , "Cause to be inferred" , "Express indirectly" , "Hint, suggest" .)