Cryptic crossword clue
Duke among heroic men tortured spineless animal 10

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word ECHINODERM

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "spineless animal" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case spineless animal = echinoderm.
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 ECHINODERM mean?

ECHINODERM noun
  1. An animal of the phylum Echinodermata, comprising radially symmetric, spiny-skinned marine animals including seastars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crinoids, and sand dollars.

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