The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 plus 4 letter word CROCODILE CLIP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
R
O
C
O
D
I
L
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C
L
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P
More clues leading to the result CROCODILE CLIP
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "one found gripping" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one found gripping = crocodile clip.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.