The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word LAIKA
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
L
A
I
K
A
More clues leading to the result LAIKA
- Ultimately surreal alias protecting one early space traveller
- Admire a speaking dog from Russia
- Social-media fan reported a famous dog
- Possibly heard as a Russian dog
- Clear ink was used intermittently on sacrificial animal
- Sounds like a high flying canine
- Broadcast impersonating a space-dog
- Early Russian space traveller crashed in Baikal, losing head
Buddy explains!
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.