The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 2 plus 4 letter word AS IT WERE
A
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More clues leading to the result AS IT WERE
- Sort of a perch right to feed baby
- You could say we admitted to sick satire
- Daughter leaving waterside in distress, so to speak
- Sort of terror about to overwhelm model
- . Answer press — all of us are, in a way
- A model? The Observer is, in a way
- In a manner of speaking, sweatier, in a way
- Wears tie loosely, so to speak
- We are its reincarnation, so to speak
- Sweater I reknit, so to speak
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "In a manner of speaking" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case in a manner of speaking = as it were.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.