The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word YOUTH
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
Y
O
U
T
H
More clues leading to the result YOUTH
- The lad Tuohy upset
- Teenager‘s not entirely happy out here
- Some try out hobbies in teenage years
- Teenager revealed in back of country hotel
- The second person there before absconding is a teenager
- Adolescent diary finally published? Hard to support that
- 7 in play out here
- Lad in army, out hunting
- Inexperience contributing to calamity out here
- Teenager that half FT readers go before
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Lad" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case lad = youth.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 YOUTH mean?
YOUTH noun- The quality or state of being young.
- The part of life following childhood; the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to adulthood.
- A young person.
- A young man; a male adolescent or young adult.
- (used with a plural or singular verb) Young persons, collectively.