The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word FIJI
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
I
J
I
More clues leading to the result FIJI
- One brief moment - almost rejected republic
- Girl I judge is in a state.
- Lots of islands having female dotty characters?
- Low-scoring draw between France and Japan briefly reported in The Nation
- Juliet visiting France, Italy, India and another country
- Fellow judge and I touring independent country
- Sometimes dotty characters supporting feminine state?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a state" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a state = fiji.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.