The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 letter word ON ICE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
O
N
I
C
E
More clues leading to the result ON ICE
- Exclamation of admiration held over
- Everything horrid not to be furthered?
- Postponed round? Fine
- Nothing pleasant being shelved
- Nothing pleasant pending
- Single nurses in clinic initially suspended
- Nothing delightful postponed
- Contributing to iconic exhibition being postponed
- Where one might see polar bears waiting in readiness?
- Awaiting settlement, everything horrible?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Kept in readiness" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case kept in readiness = on ice.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.