The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 plus 2 plus 4 letter word RUN TRUE TO FORM
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
R
U
N
T
R
U
E
T
O
F
O
R
M
Buddy explains!
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.