The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word BREADLINE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
R
E
A
D
L
I
N
E
More clues leading to the result BREADLINE
- People in need as British interpret policy
- Ban relied on shifting queue of poor
- Poor condition of rhino and crocodile
- Diner able to rejoin food queue
- You really need to be on this
- Undesirable development with us needing to leave the queue
- In Ireland, be awfully poor on this
- About to enter poor occupation? May end up on this
- Engineers employed by poor business may be on this, financially
- About to enter poor trade? May end up on this
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "food queue" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case food queue = breadline.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 BREADLINE mean?
BREADLINE noun- A line of people waiting to receive food from a charity.
- Subsistence level.