The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 plus 8 letter word MEAT AND POTATOES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
M
E
A
T
A
N
D
P
O
T
A
T
O
E
S
More clues leading to the result MEAT AND POTATOES
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Key elements" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case key elements = meat and potatoes.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.