The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 1 plus 4 letter word FLY A KITE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
L
Y
A
K
I
T
E
More clues leading to the result FLY A KITE
- Flat key I played to test people’s reaction?
- Idle talk’s left one scrambling around to check opinion
- Briefly pass around gossip, enthusiastically at first, to canvass opinion
- Issue an unsecured cheque to test the water
- Indulge in aerial activity and test public opinion?
- What one might do on a windy day to test opinion
- American in rush with equipment on rear of vehicle to try out something?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "to test people’s reaction" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to test people’s reaction = fly a kite.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.