The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 letter word HEN NIGHT
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
H
E
N
N
I
G
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T
More clues leading to the result HEN NIGHT
- Names within top party
- Party for Her Highness interrupted by news
- Names included in top party
- Chicken, thing to cook for a wild evening?
- Hill outside the fringes of Nuneaton from which men are barred?
- Oddly, nana wears crown for party
- A good time for ladies of stature to absorb news
- New name welcomed by ultimate prematch party
- Northampton’s wingers participating in utmost degree in pre-match event
- Top name, keen ultimately to enter female party
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "A good time for ladies" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a good time for ladies = hen night.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.