The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 letter word NEST EGG
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
N
E
S
T
E
G
G
More clues leading to the result NEST EGG
- Fund of money, for example, stashed away by dodgygents
- Obtains inside information given rise in savings
- Savings teens wasted on goods
- Saving time in New York, say: no good concealing it
- Reserve receives breaking news from the south
- Fledgling gets encouraged to climb, having something to fall back on
- Back in Luxembourg, get sent money for a rainy day
- Mum abandoned old Welsh pit town; no good banking savings
- Recalled information about stone, say, in investments?
- Savings banked in the branches?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "something to fall back on" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case something to fall back on = nest egg.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.