The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word PERU
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
E
R
U
More clues leading to the result PERU
- Land for each university
- Exercise before game for World Cup team, perhaps
- Camper usually protects land
- Country type, rustic — a bit
- Examine carefully abandoning south-eastern land
- Exercise and sport in the country
- Republican returning to university here in South America
- Country with some culture, presently turning up
- Nation combining games and sport
- Land according to turn
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Land" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case land = peru.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.