The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word LOVE MATCH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
L
O
V
E
M
A
T
C
H
More clues leading to the result LOVE MATCH
- Happy union's no-score draw?
- Nothing dull with companion: the perfect coupling?
- Nothing light in romance
- Nothing to compare with what Edward and Wallis made
- Move around in secure romantic alliance
- What Romeo and Juliet made of the vocal Mercutio’s initial rollicking
- A successful doubles partnership
- Nothing in court contest producing true partnership
- Zippo lighter & Romeo y Julieta?
- Man United with desire for no score draw
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "true partnership" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case true partnership = love match.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.