The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word MAMBA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
M
A
M
B
A
More clues leading to the result MAMBA
- Two degrees? One might do for you in Africa
- Dangerous creature, black, captured by degrees
- Mother trapping black snake
- Baby initially nursed by two parents, one with fangs
- Snake with advanced degrees in arts and business?
- Snake heads for me and my black Airedale
- Old woman throttling black snake
- Death-dealing African voodoo priestess accepted for ordinary
- Two postgraduate degrees potentially a killer
- A poisonous creeper
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "snake" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case snake = mamba.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 MAMBA mean?
MAMBA noun- Any of various venomous snakes of the genus Dendroaspis, native to Africa, that live in trees.