The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word BREATHTAKING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
B
R
E
A
T
H
T
A
K
I
N
G
More clues leading to the result BREATHTAKING
- Getting winded is so exhilarating
- The art involved in cookery is awesome
- Comic at the bar – card, extremely impressive
- Stunning, but also inspiring?
- Wonderful Mad Hatter cooking sandwiches!
- A banker with tight pants is awesome
- Beautiful, as may be a low blow?
- Amazing function of device used by suspicious police
- What’s smashing about that reorganised spectacular
- The tar developed during cooking is overwhelming
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "exhilarating" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case exhilarating = breathtaking.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 BREATHTAKING mean?
BREATHTAKING adjective- Stunningly beautiful; amazing
- Very surprising or shocking; to such a degree as to cause astonishment.