Cryptic crossword clue
Swimmer passed if swimming hard 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SPADEFISH

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
P
A
D
E
F
I
S
H

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Swimmer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case swimmer = spadefish.
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 SPADEFISH mean?

SPADEFISH noun
  1. Any of several marine fish of the family Ephippidae
  2. Polyodon spathula, the paddlefish.

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