Cryptic crossword clue
Article’s penetrated by minor excited particles 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word THERMIONS

I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "particles" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case particles = thermions.
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 THERMIONS mean?

THERMIONS noun
  1. An electrically charged particle, either an electron or an ion, emitted by a conducting material at high temperatures

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