The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 7 letter word SMOKE SIGNALS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
M
O
K
E
S
I
G
N
A
L
S
More clues leading to the result SMOKE SIGNALS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Messages" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case messages = smoke signals.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.