The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ILL-FATED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
L
L
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F
A
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D
More clues leading to the result ILL-FATED
- Undernourished bears attack, lacking food and destined to fail
- Unlucky to be badly entertained in recital
- It’ll fade out … that’s unfortunate
- Doomed to be sick, overweight and even dead
- Doomed to be sickly?
- Unlucky one, round in valley, in retreat
- One condemned lad felt unlucky
- Off-colour setter taking bait occasionally — unlucky
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "unlucky" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case unlucky = ill-fated.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.
What does ILL-FATED mean?
ILL-FATED adjective- Unlucky; doomed.