Cryptic crossword clue
Men on board circling lake to find breeding-places 9

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

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
R
O
O
K
E
R
I
E
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "breeding-places" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case breeding-places = rookeries.
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 ROOKERIES mean?

ROOKERIES noun
  1. A colony of breeding birds or other animals.
  2. A crowded tenement.
  3. A place where criminals congregate, often an area of a town or city.

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