The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word PAPER CLIP
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
A
P
E
R
C
L
I
P
More clues leading to the result PAPER CLIP
- Sheet anchor?
- Photographer I hesitate to say cut some wire
- FT magazine article found in office?
- Sun possibly caught brass item on office desk?
- How leaves may be connected to ridiculous apple price cut
- Pages split by plastic replica documents holder
- Press cutting? This could keep it in place
- Daily trim that keeps things tidy
- Article in office journal cut
- Mash rice mixed with core of apples as staple alternative?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "item on office desk" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case item on office desk = paper clip.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.