The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word FRITTER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
F
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I
T
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More clues leading to the result FRITTER
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Piece of deep-fried food" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case piece of deep-fried food = fritter.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 FRITTER mean?
FRITTER noun- A dish made by deep-frying food coated in batter.
- A fragment; a shred; a small piece.
- (often with about, around, or away) To squander or waste time, money, or other resources; e.g. occupy oneself idly or without clear purpose, to tinker with an unimportant part of a project, to dally, sometimes as a form of procrastination.
- To sinter.
- To cut (meat etc.) into small pieces for frying.
- To break into small pieces or fragments.