The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word TWILIGHT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
W
I
L
I
G
H
T
More clues leading to the result TWILIGHT
- Wit surprisingly easy at the end of the day
- Mean to collect brief legal document towards the end of the day?
- Couple out of love cheerful after one relatively dark period
- Mainly get Kindle when it’s hard to see clearly
- Evening time on island, around 1:50
- Shakespeare’s taken short in drunken evening
- Woman I left during tense period at end of day
- Foreign weightlifter free to leave at the end of the day
- Time of day drunk nurses finally lost resolve
- Perhaps towards the end of the day, mean to eat with the Italian
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "early in the evening" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case early in the evening = twilight.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 TWILIGHT mean?
TWILIGHT noun- The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.
- The time when this light is visible; the period between daylight and darkness.
- The time when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon.
- Any faint light through which something is seen; an in-between or fading condition.
- To illuminate faintly.
- Pertaining to or resembling twilight; faintly illuminated; obscure.