Cryptic crossword clue
Gold prospectors once, doomed to failure 10

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word ALCHEMISTS

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Gold prospectors once, doomed to failure" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case gold prospectors once, doomed to failure = alchemists.
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 ALCHEMISTS mean?

ALCHEMISTS noun
  1. One who practices alchemy.
  2. One who blends material or substances in the nature or supposed nature of alchemy.

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