The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word TEMPLES
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
E
M
P
L
E
S
More clues leading to the result TEMPLES
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Cerebral/shrines" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cerebral/shrines = temples.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 TEMPLES mean?
TEMPLES noun- A house of worship, especially:
- A meeting house of the Oddfellows fraternity; its members.
- Any place regarded as holding a religious presence.
- Any place seen as an important centre for some activity.
- Anything regarded as important or minutely cared for.
- A gesture wherein the forefingers are outstretched and touch pad to pad while the other fingers are clasped together.
- To build a temple for; to appropriate a temple to; to temple a god
- The slightly flatter region, on either side of the human head, behind of the eye and forehead, above the zygomatic arch, and forward of the ear.
- Either of the sidepieces on a set of spectacles, extending backwards from the hinge toward the ears and, usually, turning down around them.
- A contrivance used in a loom for keeping the web stretched transversely.