Cryptic crossword clue
Quietly supported by act protecting western water plant 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PONDWEED

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
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W
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "water plant" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case water plant = pondweed.
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

PONDWEED noun
  1. Any of several plants that grow in ponds or similar aquatic conditions:
  2. Charales, an order of green algae

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