Cryptic crossword clue
Cuckoo dining away from nest? 3,2,5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 2 plus 5 letter word OUT TO LUNCH

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
O
U
T
T
O
L
U
N
C
H

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Cuckoo/dining away from nest?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cuckoo/dining away from nest? = out to lunch.
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.

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