The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 3 letter word BIG TOP
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
B
I
G
T
O
P
More clues leading to the result BIG TOP
- Great sweatshirt, perhaps, for tent
- Erecting one needs lots of guys good in piece work
- Burly jumper, for example, in circus tent
- Famous spinner in tent
- Jumper for Nellie the Elephant — or where she performed?
- Burly jumper, say, in circus tent
- Work under small section to secure good tent
- Large spinner is seen at the circus
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "circus tent" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case circus tent = big top.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.