The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 plus 5 letter word POP ONES CLOGS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
O
P
O
N
E
S
C
L
O
G
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "to depart" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to depart = pop ones clogs.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.