Cryptic crossword clue
I prefer women, not men, to build strength in the military 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word FIREPOWER

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
F
I
R
E
P
O
W
E
R


Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "strength in the military" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case strength in the military = firepower.
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 FIREPOWER mean?

FIREPOWER noun
  1. The capacity of a weapon to deliver fire onto a target
  2. The ability to deliver fire
  3. The ability to shoot and score goals.

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