Cryptic crossword clue
Ruthless king invades? Had a little trap recalled 4-6

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word HARD-BITTEN

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
A
R
D
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B
I
T
T
E
N

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Ruthless" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ruthless = hard-bitten.
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.

What does HARD-BITTEN mean?

HARD-BITTEN adjective
  1. Callous and toughened by experience

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