The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DECKHAND
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
D
E
C
K
H
A
N
D
More clues leading to the result DECKHAND
- Adorn husband, as well as ship’s crew member
- Sailor with ornament was obliged to entertain head of Navy
- Pack with some cards for ship's labourer
- Pack bananas as one of the ship’s crew
- Ordinary seaman‘s two sets of cards
- Jack in pack, set of cards
- Decorate, with help from sailor
- Sailor given cards repeatedly
- Sailor has all the cards, enough of them for one to play with
- Knock down hotel along with manual worker
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Jack" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case jack = deckhand.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 DECKHAND mean?
DECKHAND noun- A member of the crew of a merchant ship who performs manual labour.
- To work on a boat as a deckhand; crew.