The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 7 letter word FUTURE PERFECT
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
F
U
T
U
R
E
P
E
R
F
E
C
T
More clues leading to the result FUTURE PERFECT
- Exceptionally rosy prediction — but it makes us tense
- The coming Utopia makes one tense
- Tense or terse Utopian prediction?
- Tense, given Pollyanna's expectation?
- Utopian prediction will have been given as example
- Tense in effect, rupture proving troublesome
- It’s tense, but what’s ahead couldn’t be better
- Tense, but offering message of utopian time ahead?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "tense/what’s ahead couldn’t be better" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case tense/what’s ahead couldn’t be better = future perfect.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.