The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 3 plus 4 letter word SET THE PACE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
E
T
T
H
E
P
A
C
E
Buddy explains!
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.