Cryptic crossword clue
Hour in deep sleep showing quality of shade 6

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word CHROMA

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
H
R
O
M
A

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The straight part
We know that "quality of shade" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case quality of shade = chroma.
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 CHROMA mean?

CHROMA noun
  1. The colorfulness relative to the brightness of a similarly illuminated area
  2. The aspect of a colour's hue that depends on the amount of white or black in it; saturation
  3. A note in a chromatic scale

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