The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 5 letter word ON TRIAL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
O
N
T
R
I
A
L
More clues leading to the result ON TRIAL
- Latin, or translation, being heard?
- In dock, going to make test voyage?
- Love new supertanker, essentially backed by Saudi money, in dock
- Rum ration left as a test
- Being tested by Repton’s head in translation of Old Latin
- Suspect fence might be so old, with hole in middle, rattlin’ badly
- Liar not found out, when appearing in court
- Cricket side, ahead of test, being judged
- Ace thus would be in court, facing the judge?
- To a liner out East — at sea, or in dock
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "appearing in court" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case appearing in court = on trial.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.