The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word FLATTERY
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
F
L
A
T
T
E
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Y
More clues leading to the result FLATTERY
- Flannel and soft soap
- Sugar level: attempt to conserve energy
- Cook brought round milky coffee and soft soap
- Praise cook drinking coffee
- More dull Yankee praise that’s insincere
- Praise mending of tyre after punctured
- Insincere praise of coffee accepted by Cook
- Imitation could be a form of this contrived lefty art
- Praise cook having nailed hot drink
- Sugar in coffee? Cook assumes that
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Imitation could be a form of this" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case imitation could be a form of this = flattery.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 FLATTERY mean?
FLATTERY noun- Excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour.
- An instance of excessive praise.