Cryptic crossword clue
Paper in which John played good game 3-5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MAH-JONGG

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
M
A
H
-
J
O
N
G
G

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "game" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case game = mah-jongg.
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.

Crossword Answer definitions

MAH-JONGG noun
  1. A game (originally Chinese) for four players, using a collection of tiles divided into five or six suits.
  2. A solitaire game using the same tiles, where the player wins by removing pairs of matching exposed tiles until none remain.

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