The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word AURAL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
U
R
A
L
More clues leading to the result AURAL
- A range of hearing
- Report of examination relating to the ears
- Received by the ear, or spoken by the mouth, say
- Girl lowers cap touching the ears?
- For listeners, Francesco the poet’s beloved, moving line
- Learner overcome by atmosphere of hearing
- Involved in hearing, woman’s beginning to finish
- A particular organ’s characteristic — loud initially
- Atmosphere by lake sensed, but not visually
- Sound coming through the mouth? Through the ear!
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "according to hearsay" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case according to hearsay = aural.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 AURAL mean?
AURAL adjective- Of or pertaining to the ear.
- Of or pertaining to sound.
- Of or pertaining to an aura.