The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 5 letter word ON THE BLINK
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
O
N
T
H
E
B
L
I
N
K
More clues leading to the result ON THE BLINK
- Drunk hen to flash bust
- Ninth bloke needs sacking, not reliably working
- Awfully thin bloke keeping close to canteen that’s operating intermittently
- Ninth bloke out getting poor reception
- Initially, Khrushchev and Lenin both, unfortunately, failing
- To back down from a confrontation after working with most of them is out of order
- Not working – perhaps playing golf endlessly around Britain
- Fluttering the eyelashes is not working!
- Failing, where lids come down?
- Bachelor engaged in playing golf endlessly, working intermittently
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "getting poor reception" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case getting poor reception = on the blink.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.