The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 15 letter word MIDDLEOFTHEROAD
M
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D
D
L
E
O
F
T
H
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R
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A
D
More clues leading to the result MIDDLEOFTHEROAD
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Moderate" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case moderate = middleoftheroad.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.