The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MENAGERIE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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More clues leading to the result MENAGERIE
- Workers mature cheese out of British live collection
- Collection people are getting on retirement — in euros at first
- Collection of creatures, mass — strange to include badger?
- Agree mine is terrible place to keep animals
- Male horse surrounded by strangely frightening collection of animals
- . I agree men must let loose animals kept for display
- Staff agree to change — a beastly bunch!
- Ermine age terribly in a zoo
- People brought to Silver Lake for animal exhibition
- Male badger stuffed amongst weird collection of animals
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "collection of animals" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case collection of animals = menagerie.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 MENAGERIE mean?
MENAGERIE noun- A collection of live wild animals on exhibition; the enclosure where they are kept.
- A diverse or miscellaneous group.