Cryptic crossword clue
Spartan king elevated among usual enemies 8

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

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
E
N
E
L
A
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S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Spartan king" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case spartan king = menelaus.
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.

Crossword Answer definitions

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