The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word UNLIT
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
U
N
L
I
T
More clues leading to the result UNLIT
- Learner in military group not exactly bright
- Dark end of mall in part of industrial estate
- Dark lake one goes round
- Squad crossing lake as fire not yet started?
- Nice place to sleep in the dark
- ... but if south-facing, becoming much brighter
- Dark lake flanked by group of soldiers
- Captured by group of soldiers, left in the dark
- Gloomy place in which Jean-Paul Sartre conducted his affairs?
- 1 across the origin of light and dark
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Gloomy" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case gloomy = unlit.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 UNLIT mean?
UNLIT adjective- Not lit