The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SYRIA
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
S
Y
R
I
A
More clues leading to the result SYRIA
- Shy artisan spending every second in the country
- Breezy point up-country
- Sweden, on reflection: open country
- Spy … or vicar? Odd characters noted in country
- Country has open society rising?
- Some fairy stories about far-off land
- From south, excellent railway going to the North Country
- Country stronghold you raid in anger at the front
- Astronomer’s given up this troubled country
- Open return to southern country
Buddy explains!
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.