The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word HOUSE MICE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
H
O
U
S
E
M
I
C
E
More clues leading to the result HOUSE MICE
Buddy explains!
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.