The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 1 plus 5 plus 2 plus 2 plus 3 letter word A MEANS TO AN END
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
M
E
A
N
S
T
O
A
N
E
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D
More clues leading to the result A MEANS TO AN END
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "One way of getting something you want" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one way of getting something you want = a means to an end.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.