The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word BOOZE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
B
O
O
Z
E
More clues leading to the result BOOZE
- Soundly shows disapproval of alcohol
- Audibly demonstrates contempt for sauce
- Tour of inns maybe with jazz, across Australia and much of Europe
- In barracks picked up drink
- Drink, black, to leak out slowly
- Hard stuff getting a poor reception, you say?
- Barrel to leak drink
- Drink black slime
- … drinks to flow? Write book first
- Drink coming in dribble at back of pub
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Hard stuff" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case hard stuff = booze.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 BOOZE mean?
BOOZE noun- Any alcoholic beverage.
- A session of drinking alcohol; a drinking party.
- To drink alcohol.