The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word TEST STRIP
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
E
S
T
S
T
R
I
P
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Litmus paper eg" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case litmus paper eg = test strip.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.