The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word NIGER
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
N
I
G
E
R
More clues leading to the result NIGER
- Queen almost raised in African republic
- Caravan finally turning up on private land
- Country district to west lacking the ultimate in brio
- Queen sent up having lost a country
- Desperado finally banished from district backing African river
- Country knight put up British and American soldiers
- Not complete setback for Queen and Country
- . Germany supporting uprising in African country
- African country‘s familiar populist politician changes sides
- American leaving queen standing in river
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "river" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case river = niger.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.