The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 plus 4 letter word EARN MORE THAN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
E
A
R
N
M
O
R
E
T
H
A
N
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "gross-out? On the contrary" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case gross-out? on the contrary = earn more than.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.