The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 plus 4 letter word TOOTH AND NAIL
T
O
O
T
H
A
N
D
N
A
I
L
Buddy explains!
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.