The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ANGUISHED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
N
G
U
I
S
H
E
D
More clues leading to the result ANGUISHED
- Tortured genius had to be feeling pain
- Dolorous one in Scots area — he had to go under
- Distressed genius had to be sorted out
- In pain, wasted away, left abandoned
- Made no progress, having started late, and suffered greatly
- Tortured genius had suffering
- Tortured genius had cracked
- Distressed? On the contrary, one was effusive about one
- A gun having gone off, I took off in distress
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "in distress" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case in distress = anguished.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 ANGUISHED mean?
ANGUISHED verb- To suffer pain.
- To cause to suffer pain.
- Feeling anguish; experiencing extreme discomfort or discontent.