The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 letter word DONE FOR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
D
O
N
E
F
O
R
More clues leading to the result DONE FOR
- Reportedly, brown square finished
- Coming up through entrance, Marsh gets killed
- Nestled in bed, one foreseeably close to death
- Assaulted president almost gets killed
- End of novel otherwise ruined
- Ruined roof end in need of repair
- Doomed one is trapped in out-of-control Ford
- Afraid one forgets to a certain extent, being doomed
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Ruined" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ruined = done for.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.