Cryptic crossword clue
Heather, after twelve months, gets young animal 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word YEARLING

I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
Y
E
A
R
L
I
N
G


Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "young animal" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case young animal = yearling.
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 YEARLING mean?

YEARLING noun
  1. An animal that is between one and two years old; one that is in its second year (but not yet two full years old).
  2. A racehorse that is considered to be one year old until a subsequent January 1st.
  3. A sophomore at West Point military academy.

Latest crossword clues with full explanations