The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word STRATA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
T
R
A
T
A
More clues leading to the result STRATA
- A pastry’s built up in layers
- Eatery in South Africa offering beds
- A floozie’s upset rock bands
- Son bitter about A levels
- A pastry’s turned into layers
- Th e cameramen need the roller for extra height
- Levels achieved by son with skill raised cheers
- Sarcastic when describing retrogressive levels of society
- A bitter-sweet introduction to the top classes
- Several layers of stone missing from plan
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.
What does STRATA mean?
STRATA noun- One of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another.
- A layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout.
- Any of the regions of the atmosphere, such as the stratosphere, that occur as layers.
- A layer of tissue.
- A class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status.
- A layer of vegetation, usually of similar height.
- The level of accuracy of a computer's clock, relative to others on the network.
- Condominium unit, condominium building, condominium title