The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word SABOTAGE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
S
A
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O
T
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More clues leading to the result SABOTAGE
- Tea bag so explosively causes destruction
- Organised go at base wrecking?
- A bad smell in theatre creates disruption
- Damage sea boat struggling to keep going, initially
- Wave abates, go for wreck
- Spoil backing of legato bassoon piece
- Clever, introducing a computer to get rid of machinery
- Damage from wear on bottom of shoe
- Spoil bag, so tea’s stewed
- Wise man protecting new boat from malicious damage
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "deliberate act of destruction" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case deliberate act of destruction = sabotage.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 SABOTAGE mean?
SABOTAGE noun- A deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction.
- An act or acts with intent to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense of a country by willfully injuring or destroying, or attempting to injure or destroy, any national defense or war materiel, premises, or utilities, to include human and natural resources.
- To deliberately destroy or damage something in order to prevent it from being successful.