The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 2 plus 1 plus 3 letter word CALLED IT A DAY
C
A
L
L
E
D
I
T
A
D
A
Y
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "gave up" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case gave up = called it a day.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.