The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word RHINESTONE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
R
H
I
N
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O
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E
More clues leading to the result RHINESTONE
- Oddball tennis hero, one not really brilliant?
- Artificial shiner with quality?
- Fake gem, a mix of nine others
- Dodgy shiner not ultimately genuine
- Flower, 14 pounds, made of paste?
- Nine others fancy it’s made of paste
- Imitation gem made from nine others
- Flower’s quality to represent diamond — that’s fake
- Jewel of European river’s brilliance of colour
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Fake gem" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case fake gem = rhinestone.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 RHINESTONE mean?
RHINESTONE noun- An artificial diamond, strass.
- Made of or encrusted with rhinestones.