The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word CRISIS
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
C
R
I
S
I
S
More clues leading to the result CRISIS
- Mostly decisive about island emergency
- Emergency credit is doubled
- Emergency primarily concerning river, the one in Oxford
- Emergency or upset thus besetting teacher
- Goddess making appearance after credit crunch
- Grayling is giving up heroin in great trouble
- Credit goddess for terrible situation
- Screams, abandoning European island in an emergency
- Chinese reactionary leaders leading double lives, a dire situation
- Grayling, hard to be got rid of, is a disaster
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "crunch" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case crunch = crisis.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 CRISIS mean?
CRISIS noun- A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
- An unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.
- A sudden change in the course of a disease, usually at which point the patient is expected to either recover or die.
- A traumatic or stressful change in a person's life.
- A point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.