The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word CIRCA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
C
I
R
C
A
More clues leading to the result CIRCA
- Spies seize retreating councillor roughly
- Approximately round figure down by a third on area
- Witch cut and skinned cat roughly
- Initially clueless in recruiting candidates, ask around
- In India cricket’s turned around
- Back in charge, taking car out and about
- It means around a hundred also, in short
- Top performers not providing us with a roundabout? So we hear
- … around Channel Islands; reportedly Crevichon’s affected initially
- Admitting Queen caught spies roughly
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Around this time" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case around this time = circa.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 CIRCA mean?
CIRCA preposition- Approximately, about, around (typically in relation to time)