The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ASCENDING
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
S
C
E
N
D
I
N
G
Buddy explains!
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 ASCENDING mean?
ASCENDING verb- To move upward, to fly, to soar.
- To slope in an upward direction.
- To go up.
- To succeed.
- To rise; to become higher, more noble, etc.
- To trace, search or go backwards temporally (e.g., through records, genealogies, routes, etc.).
- To become higher in pitch.
- An ascent.
- (of a sequence) Ordered such that each element is greater than or equal to the previous element.
- That causes a sequence to follow an ascending order.