Cryptic crossword clue
West Coast city teams caught tailing present carrier 5,4

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word SANTA CRUZ

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
A
N
T
A
C
R
U
Z

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "West Coast city" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case west coast city = santa cruz.
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.

Latest crossword clues with full explanations