The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 7 letter word AU NATUREL
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
U
N
A
T
U
R
E
L
More clues leading to the result AU NATUREL
- Lauren at university modelled nude
- Type appearing in drag, topless or nude
- Aunt crosses a river, lake and plain
- Character adopted by a university student wearing nothing
- Lacking cover, relative introduces a bizarre rule
- Naked relative admitting a rule’s broken
- One relative without uniform, another without clothes
- 22 down’s simply-cooked tuna served in bay leaf starter is off the menu
- Plain tuna’s sprinkled with bay leaf covering
- Raw beauty at its core, on neutral ground
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Lacking cover" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case lacking cover = au naturel.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.