Cryptic crossword clue
Team thrills close friends

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

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "close friends" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case close friends = sidekicks.
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 SIDEKICKS mean?

SIDEKICKS noun
  1. An assistant to another person, especially to a superior or more important person.

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