The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 7 letter word AD HOMINEM
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More clues leading to the result AD HOMINEM
- Personal maid, one Her Majesty initially ordered
- Personal style I had with memo inscribed with name
- I’m home and somehow it’s become personal
- Attacking an opponent’s character made him no different
- Awfully mad in home after personally directed comment
- Notice hot timeless rapper losing head, attacking a person during argument
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Attacking an opponent’s character" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case attacking an opponent’s character = ad hominem.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.