The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 plus 5 plus 4 letter word POINTLESS POINT LESS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
P
O
I
N
T
L
E
S
S
P
O
I
N
T
L
E
S
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Futile" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case futile = pointless point less.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.