The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 5 plus 5 letter word SHORT SHARP SHOCK
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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More clues leading to the result SHORT SHARP SHOCK
- Severe corrective instruments keeping tots from wine
- Spiky, bushy hair trimmed? That’s some punishment!
- Artfully trap crook, shut up periodically for remedial treatment
- What’s given to yobs? Spirits, lagers, wine
- Punishment involving trousers, musical instruments, [paper] and wine
- Shh! Posh rock star is playing surprise smash hit
- Low on wine, cruel son coming in for unpleasant punishment
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "surprise smash hit" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case surprise smash hit = short sharp shock.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.