The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 letter word BLACK EYE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
B
L
A
C
K
E
Y
E
More clues leading to the result BLACK EYE
- Servant dissects live mouse
- Have no energy during run — the result of blow?
- Be grabbing servant, resulting in bruise
- . Be bandaging servant’s injury
- Outcome of strike – servant housed in abandoned barge
- Injury extremely bizarre admits servant
- Facial mark: poodle has to live without it
- Servant in bed mostly as a result of being punched?
- Bruise for servant trapped in bottle banks
- Barrister’s opening material contains crucial evidence of fight?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "evidence of fight?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case evidence of fight? = black eye.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.