Cryptic crossword clue
South American dictator briefly seizing lead in Latin American game 8

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

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
I
N
O
C
H
L
E

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "American game" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case american game = pinochle.
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 PINOCHLE mean?

PINOCHLE noun
  1. A card game, similar to bezique.
  2. A meld of the jack of diamonds and queen of spades in that card game.

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