The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word HYPHENS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
H
Y
P
H
E
N
S
More clues leading to the result HYPHENS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Well-to-do joiners" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case well-to-do joiners = hyphens.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 HYPHENS mean?
HYPHENS noun- The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.
- Something that links two more consequential things.
- An enclosed walkway or passage that connects two buildings.
- Someone who belongs to a marginalized subgroup, and can therefore described by a hyphenated term, such as "German-American", "female-academic", etc.
- To separate or punctuate with a hyphen; to hyphenate.