The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word ONIONS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
N
I
O
N
S
More clues leading to the result ONIONS
- Cause of tears known to the cognoscenti?
- Cricketer gets one between legs, beginning to scream
- Experts know them to be edible bulbs
- Bulbs working? No, current’s off
- What the well-informed know? No-no is perplexed
- What the experts know about particles
- Those known as vegetables
- More than one bulb lit up, then switch is on
- Grammarian gets one between legs, beginning to suffer
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Cause of tears" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cause of tears = onions.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 ONIONS mean?
ONIONS noun- A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- The bulb of such a plant.
- The genus as a whole.
- A ball.
- A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.