Cryptic crossword clue
Failure of short holiday away from university 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word BREAKDOWN

B
R
E
A
K
D
O
W
N

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Failure" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case failure = breakdown.
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 BREAKDOWN mean?

BREAKDOWN noun
  1. A failure, particularly mechanical; something that has failed
  2. A physical collapse or lapse of mental stability
  3. Listing, division or categorization in great detail
  4. A detailed description of a forthcoming project, including the characters and roles required.
  5. Breaking of chemical bonds within a compound to produce simpler compounds or elements.
  6. A musical technique by which the music is stripped down, becoming simpler, varying in heaviness depending on the genre.
  7. A loss of organization (of the parts of a system).
  8. A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, common in Southern United States African American music.
  9. Any crude, noisy dance performed by shuffling the feet, usually by one person at a time.
  10. Any rapid bluegrass dance tune, especially featuring a five-string banjo.
  11. The percussion break of songs chosen by a DJ for use in hip-hop music.

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