The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 plus 4 plus 1 plus 9 letter word NOT TOUCH WITH A BARGEPOLE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
N
O
T
T
O
U
C
H
W
I
T
H
A
B
A
R
G
E
P
O
L
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Refuse to take a punt?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case refuse to take a punt? = not touch with a bargepole.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.