The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word KID GLOVES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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More clues leading to the result KID GLOVES
- Seventh son perhaps really appreciates gentle treatment
- Staying good, youngster much enjoys their gentle treatment
- Con government, nothing special, treated by the media with these?
- Jokes about grand passion for soft treatment aids
- Youth lusts after grand affairs to be treated discreetly with a couple?
- Tease girl who likes a bit of leniency
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "soft treatment aids" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case soft treatment aids = kid gloves.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.