The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word BATTLEDORE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
A
T
T
L
E
D
O
R
E
More clues leading to the result BATTLEDORE
- British tolerated corrupt game
- Fought men over drug racket
- Struggled again losing money – it’s a racket!
- Old sport, through which one might join the action, did you say?
- Struggled again losing thousand in racket
- Fought over Scandinavian money racket
- Fought against mineral racket once
- Fight with soldiers, engaging party game of yesteryear
- Game old soldiers fought at the front
- Struggle to work on the game
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old sport" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old sport = battledore.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 BATTLEDORE mean?
BATTLEDORE noun- A game played with a shuttlecock and rackets (properly battledore and shuttlecock); a forerunner of badminton.
- The racket used in this game.
- A child's hornbook for learning the alphabet.
- A bat or beetle used in washing clothes.