The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word MASTIFFS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
M
A
S
T
I
F
F
S
More clues leading to the result MASTIFFS
- Dogs crowd round headless corpse
- Dogs fight during church service
- Dogs making row in church service
- Dogs having slight set-to during church service
- Art master’s pets are dogs
- Dogs, mum’s pets
- Old lady’s scraps for man’s best friends?
- Dogs making row interrupting church service
- Mother’s pets? Dogs
- Dogs responsible for mother’s quarrels
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Dogs" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case dogs = mastiffs.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 MASTIFFS mean?
MASTIFFS noun- One of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.