The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 4 letter word STEP BY STEP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
T
E
P
B
Y
S
T
E
P
More clues leading to the result STEP BY STEP
- How to choreograph a ballet being staged?
- Gradually lad with nothing to lose breaks into dance moves
- How one should build flat-pack furniture — and get it upstairs?
- Mention of plain bachelor associating with corrupt types gradually
- Gradually, heartless boy put in two measures
- Flight arrangement done in stages
- Gradually includes Times in back copies of favourites
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Gradually" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case gradually = step by step.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 STEP BY STEP mean?
STEP BY STEP adjective- In detail, describing each step precisely and in order.