Write without taking sides and, oddly, clinch approval from this judge, maybe (6)
I believe the answer is:
critic
'this judge maybe' is the definition.
'critic' can be an answer for 'judge' (critic is a kind of judge). I am not sure about the remainder of the definition.
I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for critic that I've seen before include "Newspaper reviewer" , "Reviewer of plays, films etc" , "One judges the merit of artistic works" , "Writer of reviews" , "Professional analyst of works of art" .)