Cryptic crossword clue
Bard, looking sickly in Seat 5, willing to participate 4,2,4

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 4 letter word SWAN OF AVON

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
W
A
N
O
F
A
V
O
N

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Bard" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case bard = swan of avon.
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.

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