The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 7 plus 5 letter word AT DAGGERS DRAWN
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
T
D
A
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W
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More clues leading to the result AT DAGGERS DRAWN
- Grand award gets scrubbed in hostile state
- Mutually hostile jerks get grand awards
- Demeanour of dad getting involved with gangster war?
- Ready to fight in war, grandad gets agitated
- When duels traditionally take place, with familiar cricket commentator and doctor entering prepared to fight
- A follower’s strained, having accommodated day in hostile situation
- In bitter enmity, stupidly staged grand war
- In a state of open hostility? War gets grandad upset
- Bloody violent gangs darted around in a state of hostility
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "&lit-ish/demeanour?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case &lit-ish/demeanour? = at daggers drawn.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.