The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word YARDARM
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
Y
A
R
D
A
R
M
More clues leading to the result YARDARM
- Vehicle back ready for battle in part of ship
- An indicator of rum times?
- Police force in Spar
- Something’s up with my radar beam
- How it stands with the Sun said to determine drinking time
- Detection system misses a sweet potato covering the end of some ship’s rigging
- My radar must be off this beam
- Some feet and limb that one finds in marina
- My radar is off beam
- See 16a Across
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "One would carry out a suspended sentence for old sailors" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one would carry out a suspended sentence for old sailors = yardarm.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 YARDARM mean?
YARDARM noun- The outer end of a yard, often equipped with blocks for reeving signal halyards.