Cryptic crossword clue
Say when, without refinement? 5-4

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word ROUGH HEWN

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "without refinement" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case without refinement = rough hewn.
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 ROUGH HEWN mean?

ROUGH HEWN adjective
  1. Hewn roughly without a neat finish

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