The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 1 plus 3 letter word CALL IT A DAY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
A
L
L
I
T
A
D
A
Y
More clues leading to the result CALL IT A DAY
- Stop work to phone Italian lady with Yankee
- Name a particular period to stop work
- Stop working for 24 hours after phone conversation on IT
- Stop showing juggling act with Lily and Ada
- Appeal Lily put out to Doris: stop work
- A lawyer with work put back in island to announce decision to quit
- Everyone stuck in city— notice a yen to pack up
- Stop working to phone one close to apoplexy about wrong data
- Stop working for, say, 24 hours?
- Give up present title for 24 hours?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "stop work" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case stop work = call it a day.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.