Cryptic crossword clue
Male, strange critic, curious, putting us off electical item 12

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word MICROCIRCUIT

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "electical item" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case electical item = microcircuit.
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 MICROCIRCUIT mean?

MICROCIRCUIT noun
  1. An electronic device, usually fabricated by photolithography, that is very small and implements several components or their equivalent; an integrated circuit.

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