The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 16 letter word SHORT-CIRCUITING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Avoiding" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case avoiding = short-circuiting.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 SHORT-CIRCUITING mean?
SHORT-CIRCUITING verb- To cause a short circuit in
- (by extension) to force termination of an ongoing process before its natural conclusion by bypassing one or more intermediary steps
- To terminate a loop before the declared termination condition is met or a conditional before all conditions have been tested for