The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 4 plus 4 letter word IN THE SAME BOAT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
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More clues leading to the result IN THE SAME BOAT
- Similarly affected, like the Owl and the Pussy-Cat
- Owl and pussycat were suffering equally
- Sharing similar problems, as 12s are?
- Unconventional Bohemian taste - sharing problems
- Sharing problems aboard?
- Avant-garde Bohemian taste facing common problem
- Suffering similarly, like shipmates
- Like shipmates fated to sink or swim together?
- Facing misfortune together like eight during competition?
- Bemoan atheist’s appalling suffering likewise
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Facing misfortune together/like eight during competition" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case facing misfortune together/like eight during competition = in the same boat.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.