The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word KANSAS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
K
A
N
S
A
S
More clues leading to the result KANSAS
- State of king meeting an elite army unit
- One state or another short of gas
- US state where leading artist turns up for another
- State answer: awkwardly ask hosts
- A right from one
- First couple in Arizona initially leaving another part of US for a third
- Part of Balkans, a Slavic state
- US state taking a right from another
- One American state or another lacking a river
- State in which you’ll find 50 per cent of Alaskans — plus earlier 25 per cent
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a third" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a third = kansas.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.