The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word AUNT SALLY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
A
U
N
T
S
A
L
L
Y
More clues leading to the result AUNT SALLY
- Target for abuse torments topless partner
- Target a friend of the family?
- Scapegoat stealthily follows topless friend
- Soldier’s colleague picked up easy target
- Target provided by colleague, after jibes, having time off
- Fair game in more senses than one, relatively speaking?
- Shy member of the family?
- Relative’s friend is an easy target for criticism
- Tries powerlessly to get a friend, without being an easy target
- Social worker told son to marry shy lady up north
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "an easy target for criticism" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case an easy target for criticism = aunt sally.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.