The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 4 letter word ALPHABET SOUP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
L
P
H
A
B
E
T
S
O
U
P
More clues leading to the result ALPHABET SOUP
Buddy explains!
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.