Cryptic crossword clue
Fish was well past its sell-by date? 5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SMELT

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
M
E
L
T

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Fish" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case fish = smelt.
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 SMELT mean?

SMELT noun
  1. Any small anadromous fish of the family Osmeridae, found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in lakes in North America and northern part of Europe.
  2. A fool; a simpleton.
SMELT verb
  1. To sense a smell or smells.
  2. Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.
  3. (without a modifier) To smell bad; to stink.
  4. To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.
  5. To exercise sagacity.
  6. To detect or perceive; often with out.
  7. To give heed to.
SMELT noun
  1. Production of metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves melting and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal.
  2. Any of the various liquids or semi-molten solids produced and used during the course of such production.
SMELT verb
  1. To fuse or melt two things into one, especially in order to extract metal from ore; to meld

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