Cryptic crossword clue
Man is one with dull work, finishing early, before time 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CHORDATE

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
H
O
R
D
A
T
E

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Man is one" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case man is one = chordate.
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 CHORDATE mean?

CHORDATE noun
  1. A member of the phylum Chordata; numerous animals having a notochord at some stage of their development; in vertebrates this develops into the spine
CHORDATE adjective
  1. Of such animals.

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