The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 5 letter word DECIMAL PLACE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
D
E
C
I
M
A
L
P
L
A
C
E
More clues leading to the result DECIMAL PLACE
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "it could be beside the point" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it could be beside the point = decimal place.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.