The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word ANTRE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
N
T
R
E
More clues leading to the result ANTRE
- Ancient cave to which enchantress is reduced
- Old cave unearthed by instant replay
- Group of dormant reptiles in e.g. Wookey Hole
- Portion of unimportant refuse, or grot
- Cave woman trembling slightly
- Possibly rent a poet’s cave
- Cave found in verdant region
- Enchantress has covered the hole in the wall
- 12 Six footer on a cave
- Cave man trembled inside
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Ancient cave" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ancient cave = antre.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.