The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word HIGH TIDES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
H
I
G
H
T
I
D
E
S
More clues leading to the result HIGH TIDES
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.