The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ISOSCELES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
S
O
S
C
E
L
E
S
More clues leading to the result ISOSCELES
- Pole loses ice, melting first
- I help with church lesson, issue lost on some figure
- Lacking top of mixer, cooks some slices in the shape of a triangle
- One has unexpected closeness, no win ultimately, having two sides equal
- In this form, two sides are perfectly matched
- Cosies up to girl's figure
- Cosies up, holding odd lead figure
- Even I help 100 elves save five
- With two equal sides playing, is score extremely close?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "on some figure" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case on some figure = isosceles.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 ISOSCELES mean?
ISOSCELES adjective- Having (at least) two sides of equal length, used especially of a triangle or trapezoid.