The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SHIPSHAPE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
H
I
P
S
H
A
P
E
More clues leading to the result SHIPSHAPE
- Trim fruits covered by mould
- Orderly fit to sail?
- Neatly dressed, with bows?
- Say nothing with Phi’s messy copy being tidied up
- Having eaten joints, Mum needs a gym to get trim
- Orderly has model eating fruit
- Orderly messing around with hash pipes
- Dispatches copy implicating hospital orderly
- Sends husband article on exercises to get trim
- Orderly gets rid of untidy heap
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Orderly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case orderly = shipshape.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 SHIPSHAPE mean?
SHIPSHAPE adjective- (originally nautical) Meticulously neat and tidy.
- (originally nautical) Neatly and tidily to a meticulous extent.