The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 1 plus 3 plus 2 plus 1 plus 3 plus 3 plus 4 letter word LIKE A CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
L
I
K
E
A
C
A
T
O
N
A
H
O
T
T
I
N
R
O
O
F
More clues leading to the result LIKE A CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Anxious" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case anxious = like a cat on a hot tin roof.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.