The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word DROWN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
R
O
W
N
More clues leading to the result DROWN
- Depressed about river in flood
- Cause not to hear new promise being brought up
- In central Madrid, crowds stunned to find swamp
- Third of Tories wearing blue go under
- Overcome, doctor gets personal
- Like some clues with “hand” in? Go to Davy Jones’s locker
- Unhappy about river in flood
- Obliterate retrograde N-word
- Dutch king’s private sink
- Landlubber’s ending in drink — and may do this
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "flood" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case flood = drown.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 DROWN mean?
DROWN verb- To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
- To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.
- To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.
- To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
- (usually passive) To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items.