The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 2 letter word CATCH ON
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
C
A
T
C
H
O
N
More clues leading to the result CATCH ON
- Understand snag in operation
- Grasp chain running under boat
- Understand how to become popular
- Catholic at church working to become popular
- Understand and win popularity
- Get big problem with leg
- Unfireable, get the picture?
- Understand the safe way to carry firearm
- Get wise and become popular
- Twig that the safety device is active
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "to become popula" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to become popula = catch on.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.