Cryptic crossword clue
He was 12 with some chap on zither 5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PONZI

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
O
N
Z
I

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "He was 12" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case he was 12 = ponzi.
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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