Cryptic crossword clue
Ethel the singer gets to sing aboard ship 11

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word MERCHANTMAN

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

The straight part
We know that "ship" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ship = merchantman.
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 MERCHANTMAN mean?

MERCHANTMAN noun
  1. A merchant.
  2. A cargo ship, engaged in commercial activities, as opposed to a warship.

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