The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 letter word RED TAPE
R
E
D
T
A
P
E
More clues leading to the result RED TAPE
- The German overturning binding European regulations
- Looking embarrassed, volunteers given exercise inbureaucracy
- Predate horribly tedious bureaucracy
- Record of Soviet bureaucracy?
- Bureaucracy gradually became thinner after switching sections
- Smoothly operated, not beginning to see bureaucracy
- Formalities progressively reduced, with two parts switched
- Raw seal? You’ll need to fill in a form
- Officialdom requires extremely rare draft copy
- Reportedly studied record of obstructive official procedure
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "protracted bureaucracy" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case protracted bureaucracy = red tape.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.