The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PARSIMONY
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
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Y
More clues leading to the result PARSIMONY
- Resistance over chap cutting wages as penny-pinching
- Meanness of charge over ecclesiastical offence
- What might make minors pay up? Not this
- Closeness of singer-songwriter in timeless gathering
- Prison may result in penny-pinching!
- Mean policy adjusted minor’s pay
- Prison may spread a streak of meanness
- Meanness of making minors pay
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Meanness" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case meanness = parsimony.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 PARSIMONY mean?
PARSIMONY noun- Great reluctance to spend money unnecessarily.
- (by extension) The principle of using the fewest resources or explanations to solve a problem.