Cryptic crossword clue
back with nose broken at regular intervals 9

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

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
E
M
I
T
O
N
E
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "regular intervals" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case regular intervals = semitones.
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 SEMITONES mean?

SEMITONES noun
  1. The musical interval equal (exactly or approximately) to half a tone or one-twelfth of an octave
  2. Any of the pitches of the chromatic scale

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