The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word STRATUS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
T
R
A
T
U
S
More clues leading to the result STRATUS
- Standing outside front of front of restaurant, see a cloud
- Cloud level about right
- Meteorological formation right in position
- Level to which oddly smutty culture returned
- Street shoppers maybe interrupted by opening of umbrellas – sign of rain?
- Cloud starts lifting, admitting sun in the middle
- Something flat in the sky, pie thrown about in Texas, say?
- Cloud cover is right in position
- Cloud begins to rise, surrounding third of mountains
- Dark low cloud standing over river
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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 STRATUS mean?
STRATUS noun- A principal, low-level cloud type in the form of a gray layer with a rather uniform base, usually not associated with precipitation, and capable of producing corona phenomena and a weak, uniform luminance; abbreviated St.