The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word OXEN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
O
X
E
N
More clues leading to the result OXEN
- Neat types involved in sudden exodus from the east
- Skinned foxes, and cattle
- One gets changed, grabbing wrong drawers
- Gas bypassing heart in strong animals
- Ten in one for cooking stock
- Animals driven from Rio Xenxem
- Available power replaced by ten draught animals
- Cattle innards freed from gas
- Steers by intercepting one mobile
- Fox and domestic fowl, headless farm animals
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "strong animals" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case strong animals = oxen.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 OXEN mean?
OXEN noun- An adult castrated male of cattle (B. taurus).
- Any bovine animal (genus Bos). A neat, a beef.
- Of, relating to, or resembling an ox; oxlike