The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 7 plus 2 letter word WITH RESPECT TO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
W
I
T
H
R
E
S
P
E
C
T
T
O
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Pace/about" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case pace/about = with respect to.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.