The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 plus 2 plus 3 plus 4 letter word ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
R
O
B
P
E
T
E
R
T
O
P
A
Y
P
A
U
L
More clues leading to the result ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL
Buddy explains!
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.