The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word HOAX
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
H
O
A
X
More clues leading to the result HOAX
- Take in cable, with height not constant
- Practical joke, tho', not beginning with a kiss
- Fast one hardly observes at Xmas, first of all
- Stop scratching head and vote for fraud
- Stop wife leaving by trick
- Gull in trees with aspiration, we hear?
- Husband gets one involved in neat trick
- Fool in house is useless with a kiss
- Trick gives prostitute a kiss
- Kid‘s hard, picked up fellers’ targets?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Fool" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case fool = hoax.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 HOAX mean?
HOAX noun- Anything deliberately intended to deceive or trick.
- To deceive (someone) by making them believe something that has been maliciously or mischievously fabricated.