The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word ORLOP
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
O
R
L
O
P
More clues leading to the result ORLOP
- Men cut and hold covering
- Swimming pool covers last bit of rear deck
- Deck hands meeting over stopping work
- Sides engaged in quoits start to polish deck?
- Deck ratings facing dock
- Soldiers left over end of poop deck
- Deck hands seen in old observation post
- Deck or dock
- Deck officer’s outside, cut
- Part of a ship or dock
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Deck" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case deck = orlop.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 ORLOP mean?
ORLOP noun- The platform over the hold of a ship that makes up the fourth or lowest deck, hence in full called orlop deck, especially of a warship.