The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 7 letter word GO THROUGH
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
G
O
T
H
R
O
U
G
H
More clues leading to the result GO THROUGH
- Experience became hard in two different ways
- Suffer to qualify
- Managed hospital: sick suffer
- Visigoth roughly restraining bear
- Vacuous government accepts zero-hour contract ought to pass
- & 5 Make half-hearted attempt to swim in sewer?
- Examine face
- Bear became hot and wild
- Suffer or reach the next round?
- Became violent, carrying hot exhaust
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "make half-hearted attempt" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case make half-hearted attempt = go through.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.