The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 letter word HIRED GUN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
H
I
R
E
D
G
U
N
More clues leading to the result HIRED GUN
- Hit man who can’t afford his own weapon?
- Mercenary barbarian admits anger extremely distressing
- US killer touring Edinburgh having rubbed out blockhead
- Professional hitter from Edinburgh dismissed — bowled out
- Mercenary, warlike nomad suppresses anger, dreaming vacantly
- Mercenary beginning to bleed fleeing Edinburgh shot
- Bodyguard greeting blushing shooter
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "US killer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case us killer = hired gun.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.