The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word THE RIVALS
T
H
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R
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V
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S
More clues leading to the result THE RIVALS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "play" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case play = the rivals.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.