The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 plus 5 plus 2 letter word ALONG THE LINES OF
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
L
O
N
G
T
H
E
L
I
N
E
S
O
F
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Like" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case like = along the lines of.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.