The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word TOTEM POLE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
T
O
T
E
M
P
O
L
E
More clues leading to the result TOTEM POLE
- Love entering closed place of worship on which there's a tribal emblem
- Allegretto tempo lends covers something symbolic?
- Essentially, stop and rate the French hierarchical system
- Tribal symbol of tailless cat encountered on the way back by European
- Religious structure presented to another, with nothing inside
- It has various symbols; “ritenuto”, “tempo: lento” included
- Brave staff to measure Latin Quarter
- Temple too maybe a cult object
- Fetish to ring in place of worship
- Temple too elaborate to be something Indians venerate
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "hierarchical system" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case hierarchical system = totem pole.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.