The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word UNDER FIRE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
U
N
D
E
R
F
I
R
E
More clues leading to the result UNDER FIRE
- Inferior Kindle getting criticism
- Don’t bake enough, coming in for criticism
- Durer fine about being exposed to criticism
- In harm’s way — where the brazier is?
- Bombarded peacekeepers ferried out
- Endure abuse, protect tree when attacked
- . Inferior launch drawing criticism
- Weighed down by sack, feeling the heat
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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.