The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word ADULTERATION
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
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More clues leading to the result ADULTERATION
- Debasement of drug in grown-up share
- Corruption of grown-up portion, with Ecstasy in it
- Grown-up with ecstasy to share out, mixing with inferior stuff
- Mixing drug in major quantity
- Debasement of adult taking drug, fixed amount
- Corruption of European in indecent allowance
- A long time goes into making things impure
- Weakening praise surrounding TV's #1 drama
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Debasement" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case debasement = adulteration.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 ADULTERATION mean?
ADULTERATION noun- The action of adulterating, being mixed with extraneous material, illicit substitution of one substance for another.