The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SADHU
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
A
D
H
U
More clues leading to the result SADHU
- Unhappy Hindu’s outside, an Indian sage
- Holy man had us converted
- Unfortunate case of Hindu ascetic begging alms
- Unhappy Hungarian leaders becoming ascetic
- Holy man in blue hotel uniform
- Holy man had us troubled
- Holy man’s down at shed, endlessly
- Holy man unhappy with homoerotic urges at first
- One on bed of nails maybe had us fooled!
- Religious leader had us fooled
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Holy man" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case holy man = sadhu.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 SADHU mean?
SADHU noun- An ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (enjoyment), artha (practical objectives) and even dharma (duty).