The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MOONSHINE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
O
O
N
S
H
I
N
E
More clues leading to the result MOONSHINE
- Liquor drunk in one’s home after dropping Ecstasy
- Staggering, homes in on hooch
- Homes in on distilled hooch
- Do well following month on the hard stuff
- Smuggled spirits? Nonsense
- Bootlegged product is trash!
- Nonsense, such extremes entertained by low figure
- Criminal homes in on illicit booze
- Low number keeping quiet in soft light
- Drunk homes in on this
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "the hard stuff" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case the hard stuff = moonshine.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 MOONSHINE mean?
MOONSHINE noun- The light of the moon; moonlight.
- High-proof alcohol (especially whiskey) that is often, but not always, produced illegally.
- Nonsense.
- A branch of pure mathematics relating the Monster group to an invariant of elliptic functions.
- A spiced dish of eggs and fried onions.
- A month.