The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word LONGITUDE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
L
O
N
G
I
T
U
D
E
More clues leading to the result LONGITUDE
- A timely prize-winning title?
- Covering golf, broadcast outlined distance, one way or another
- Dicky led outing in line
- Cook departs, out! Good line and curve
- Outing led astray? Find this on a map
- Without hesitation, removed article on deregulation disaster showing a GPS coordinates component
- Imaginary line, moulds glued on it
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "distance, one way or another" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case distance, one way or another = longitude.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 LONGITUDE mean?
LONGITUDE noun- Angular distance measured west or east of the prime meridian.
- Any imaginary line perpendicular to the equator and part of a great circle passing through the North Pole and South Pole.
- Length.