Cryptic crossword clue
Combine, say, run back with an early finish — around five 9

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

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
H
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Combine, say" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case combine, say = harvester.
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 HARVESTER mean?

HARVESTER noun
  1. A person who gathers the harvest.
  2. A machine that gathers the harvest.
  3. A program or algorithm that gathers data from a source.
  4. A North American butterfly, Feniseca tarquinius, whose larvae eat aphids and are the only entirely carnivorous caterpillars in North America
  5. Any butterfly of the lycaenid subfamily Miletinae to which this belongs, which are all carnivores

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