The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CAPTAINS
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
C
A
P
T
A
I
N
S
More clues leading to the result CAPTAINS
- Army or Navy officers of unequal rank, oddly
- Cooks of now and yesteryear?
- People having leading roles in pact, as arranged
- Leading men in awful cast I pan
- Masters Pinta in a storm, having been tossed about briefly
- Commanders ground pita in containers
- Subject overwhelmed by murderer, saved at the end by officers
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Army or Navy officers of unequal rank, oddly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case army or navy officers of unequal rank, oddly = captains.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 CAPTAINS mean?
CAPTAINS noun- A chief or leader.
- The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.
- An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
- A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
- A commissioned officer in the United States Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA Corps, or PHS Corps of a grade superior to a commander and junior to a rear admiral (lower half). A captain is equal in grade or rank to an Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
- One of the athletes on a sports team who is designated to make decisions, and is allowed to speak for his team with a referee or official.
- The leader of a group of workers.
- The head boy of a school.
- A maître d', a headwaiter.
- An honorific title given to a prominent person. See colonel.
- To act as captain
- To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.