Cryptic crossword clue
Fail utterly, as motions often do 2,4,3,3

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 4 plus 3 plus 3 letter word GO DOWN THE PAN

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
G
O
D
O
W
N
T
H
E
P
A
N

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Fail utterly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case fail utterly = go down the pan.
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.

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