Cryptic crossword clue
Story’s swamped by nasty smear that’s more contemptible 8

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

I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
M
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A
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "more contemptible" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case more contemptible = measlier.
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 MEASLIER mean?

MEASLIER adjective
  1. Particularly of pigs or pork: infected with larval tapeworms or trichinae (parasitic roundworms).
  2. Of a person: infected with measles.
  3. Small (especially contemptibly small) in amount.

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