The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word HEY PRESTO
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
H
E
Y
P
R
E
S
T
O
More clues leading to the result HEY PRESTO
- Man, to hold battle: magical success!
- In the wrong battle, nothing I have succeeded
- Cry from magicians showing ropes they tangled
- . The distraught nurses battle over revelatory announcement
- Magician utters this poetry and she’s transformed
- As if by magic, the osprey takes flight
- Here to spy producing tricky words?
- The osprey flies as if by magic
- Magic words to stir Tory sheep
- What magicians said when they worked with ropes
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "As if by magic" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case as if by magic = hey presto.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.