The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word MAUVE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
M
A
U
V
E
More clues leading to the result MAUVE
- Colourful sort of light in West
- Make an effort initially to include ultraviolet and purple
- Colour caused by radiation in West?
- Faces of men are unusually violet, even purple
- Millions have to hold gold in the shade
- Miss West has ultraviolet shade
- West has Ray's colour
- Miss West soaks up ultraviolet for that striking shade of purple
- Colour of batter left out borders on vile
- Colour that needs treating before it can become argumentative
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Colourful" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case colourful = mauve.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 MAUVE mean?
MAUVE noun- A bright purple synthetic dye.
- The colour of this dye; a pale purple or violet colour.
- Having a pale purple colour.