The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word LAME DUCK
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
L
A
M
E
D
U
C
K
More clues leading to the result LAME DUCK
- Spooner’s Lady Fortune for company in trouble
- Vulnerable type of male sadly getting nothing
- Turkey meal liquidised to get down quickly
- Unsuccessful paper boss in mess backing the French
- Inefficient person lacked, um, organisation
- Unsuccessful person? Take notice about me splitting fortune!
- Ineffective type made off, coming into fortune
- Ineffectual person, this writer the French avoid locking up
- Person without capability or chance to cross a sea
- Capricious Dame Fortune protects no-hoper
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Unsuccessful" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case unsuccessful = lame duck.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.