The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 letter word CUT SHORT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
C
U
T
S
H
O
R
T
More clues leading to the result CUT SHORT
- Interrupted instruction to army barber
- No end of justice for Spooner? Not today!
- Interrupt barber?
- Spooner’s close romance is curtailed
- Bob finds two causes of power failure
- Commission ruined without right crop
- Court entertaining frantic rush to interrupt
- A possible clue to copper being interrupted
- Check injury caused by knife, blunt
- Spooner’s announcement to close Justice Centre is finished early
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "curtailed" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case curtailed = cut short.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.