The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DYNAMITE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
Y
N
A
M
I
T
E
More clues leading to the result DYNAMITE
- Man wrestling with deity is explosive
- Tiny dame, surprisingly explosive
- Explosive is key anytime, unfortunately
- Exciting bloke made tiny changes
- Brilliant banger
- Explosive made tiny to go off
- Explosive speech showing possibilities of one in restaurant?
- Captivated by yeti, many drooled over potential killer
- Explosive made tiny fragments
- A high explosive, and yet I’m relaxed
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "explosive" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case explosive = dynamite.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 DYNAMITE mean?
DYNAMITE noun- A class of explosives made from nitroglycerine in an absorbent medium such as kieselguhr, used in mining and blasting; invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867.
- A stick of trinitrotoluene (TNT)
- Anything exceptionally dangerous, exciting or wonderful.
- To blow up with dynamite or other high explosive.