Cryptic crossword clue
It’s painful sitting inside this French compartment 9

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

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
C
O
U
C
H
E
T
T
E

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "compartment" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case compartment = couchette.
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 COUCHETTE mean?

COUCHETTE noun
  1. A couch.
  2. A compartment on a passenger train having berths for sleeping.
  3. A berth in such a compartment.

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