The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 2 letter word WADES IN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
W
A
D
E
S
I
N
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "joins fray" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case joins fray = wades in.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.