The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 1 plus 4 letter word HAD A BASH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
A
D
A
B
A
S
H
More clues leading to the result HAD A BASH
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "tried" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case tried = had a bash.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.