Cryptic crossword clue
A shift in roles leaving only odd characters in high spirits 10

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word ARCHANGELS

I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "high spirits" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case high spirits = archangels.
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 ARCHANGELS mean?

ARCHANGELS noun
  1. A powerful angel that leads many other angels, but is still loyal to a deity, and often seen as belonging to a particular archangelical rank or order within a greater hierarchy of angels. (Judeo-Christian examples: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel).

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