The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word CRUSTACEA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
R
U
S
T
A
C
E
A
More clues leading to the result CRUSTACEA
- “Crabby” types making a living, excellent actors originally
- Marine arthropods covering hole in one area
- Hardbacks from Sweden in accurate translation
- 26 perhaps the result of acid attack on hotshot in California
- Coat that’s excellent with one class of animals
- A class made up of hard cases?
- Shrimps and the like found in cat saucer, mysteriously
- Saucer broken by upset cat getting in with some shelled arthropods
- E.g. crabs caught turn orange one by one
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Marine arthropods" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case marine arthropods = crustacea.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 CRUSTACEA mean?
CRUSTACEA noun- Any arthropod of the subphylum Crustacea, including lobsters, crabs, shrimp, barnacles and woodlice.