The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 letter word AFT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
F
T
More clues leading to the result AFT
- Crazy, dropping head to the back
- Floating platform headed back to sailors
- One extremely fat behind
- Stupid not to have opening near the tail
- A pink organ towards the rear
- Sailor's behind, a pink one?
- Wife leaving a hint of perfume behind
- Overweight female goes right to the back
- Rear seen in taffeta, regularly
- Behind our paper on article
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "towards the rear" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case towards the rear = aft.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 AFT mean?
AFT noun- The stern portion of a vessel.
- Located at the back of a boat, ship, or airplane
- At, near, or towards the stern of a vessel (with the frame of reference within the vessel).
- The part of the day from noon or lunchtime until sunset, evening, or suppertime or 6pm.
- The later part of anything, often with implications of decline.
- A party or social event held in the afternoon.