The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word FORMALLY
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
F
O
R
M
A
L
L
Y
More clues leading to the result FORMALLY
- Make a friend with ceremony
- Classmate, maybe, officially
- Make to combine in official fashion
- Classmate? Precisely
- Classmate, in official style
- Make a friend without ceremony
- Properly in favour of male friend
- Supporter on bench following proper style
- Figure colleague may be standing on ceremony?
- Supporting male friend in a decorous way
Buddy explains!
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 FORMALLY mean?
FORMALLY adverb- In a formal manner.
- In accordance with official procedure.
- In accordance with rigorous rules.