The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word OESTROGEN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
O
E
S
T
R
O
G
E
N
More clues leading to the result OESTROGEN
- Largely female production bruised tenor's ego
- What makes a female regularly covet Seth, the actor and comedian
- It’s vital for female genes or to cuckoo
- Tenor goes wild — something stimulating sexuality in women
- Uneasy with this hormone, rep produces progesterone
- Hormone gets one frisky – or upset inside?
- Hormone store gone bad
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "It’s vital for female" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it’s vital for female = oestrogen.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 OESTROGEN mean?
OESTROGEN noun- Any of a group of steroids that are secreted by the ovaries and function as female sex hormones.