The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 5 plus 3 plus 5 letter word IN BLACK AND WHITE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
I
N
B
L
A
C
K
A
N
D
W
H
I
T
E
More clues leading to the result IN BLACK AND WHITE
- Where NYPD cop may put perp, clearly!
- How the papers show the truth in ink, with balanced exchange of letters
- How extreme viewpoints are committed to paper
- Printed one introduction to novel with Shades of Grey formula?
- Popular chess opponents? On paper
- It's put down as to how the chess pieces are arrayed
- How movies were once filmed on record
- Written down at home by opponents playing chess?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Written down" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case written down = in black and white.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.