Cryptic crossword clue
Make-up neophyte smeared onto lip, finally 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PHENOTYPE

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
H
E
N
O
T
Y
P
E

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Make-up" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case make-up = phenotype.
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.

What does PHENOTYPE mean?

PHENOTYPE noun
  1. The appearance of an organism based on a multifactorial combination of genetic traits and environmental factors, especially used in pedigrees.
  2. Any observable characteristic of an organism, such as its morphological, developmental, biochemical or physiological properties, or its behavior.
PHENOTYPE verb
  1. To evaluate or classify based on phenotype

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