Cryptic crossword clue
Request to a magician, perhaps, gets to be effective 2,3,5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 5 letter word DO THE TRICK

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
O
T
H
E
T
R
I
C
K

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "to be effective" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to be effective = do the trick.
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.

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