The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 6 letter word CURRIES FAVOUR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
C
U
R
R
I
E
S
F
A
V
O
U
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Seeks approval of" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case seeks approval of = curries favour.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.