The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word DISORIENT
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
I
S
O
R
I
E
N
T
More clues leading to the result DISORIENT
- Get off course to westernise, apparently
- Get confused in store aimlessly trailing after woman
- Confuse with combination of noise and dirt
- 12 Unexpected noise, dirt, cause one to lose sense of direction
- Around love, Tinder is designed to confuse
- “Democrat in, Tories out!” — that is to confuse
- Confuse Democrat with Tories in Barking
- Bad directions lacking clarity principally will do this?
- Turn away from East London footballers, shortly after endless team reverses
- Puzzle Editor’s in muddle!
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "cause one to lose sense of direction" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cause one to lose sense of direction = disorient.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DISORIENT mean?
DISORIENT verb- To cause to lose orientation or direction.
- To confuse or befuddle.