Cryptic crossword clue
Ships once leave small group of stars outside 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ARGOSIES

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
R
G
O
S
I
E
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Ships once" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ships once = argosies.
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 ARGOSIES mean?

ARGOSIES noun
  1. A merchant ship.
  2. A merchant flotilla, fleet.
  3. An abundant supply, boatload.

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