The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word HEAT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
H
E
A
T
More clues leading to the result HEAT
- Passion displayed in theatre
- Ambassador attending qualifying round
- Hard to take in intensity of feeling
- Passion in part of contest
- Warm headgear lined with an edging of ermine
- . Passion is displayed in amphitheatres
- Here, every athlete tussles – to begin with?
- A bit of a kip after extremes of heartache and passion
- Pressure unbelievers to cast off layers
- Preliminary passion
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "qualifying round" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case qualifying round = heat.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 HEAT mean?
HEAT noun- Thermal energy.
- The condition or quality of being hot.
- An attribute of a spice that causes a burning sensation in the mouth.
- A period of intensity, particularly of emotion.
- An undesirable amount of attention.
- The police.
- One or more firearms.
- A fastball.
- A condition where a mammal is aroused sexually or where it is especially fertile and therefore eager to mate.
- A preliminary race, used to determine the participants in a final race
- One cycle of bringing metal to maximum temperature and working it until it is too cool to work further.
- A hot spell.
- Heating system; a system that raises the temperature of a room or building.
- The output of a heating system.
- In omegaverse fiction, a cyclical period in which alphas and omegas experience an intense, sometimes irresistible biological urge to mate.
- To cause an increase in temperature of (an object or space); to cause to become hot (often with "up").
- To become hotter.
- To excite or make hot by action or emotion; to make feverish.
- To excite ardour in; to rouse to action; to excite to excess; to inflame, as the passions.
- To arouse, to excite (sexually).