Cryptic crossword clue
Mineral artist poured into carton 5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word BORAX

I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
B
O
R
A
X

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Mineral" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case mineral = borax.
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 BORAX mean?

BORAX noun
  1. A white or gray/grey crystalline salt, with a slight alkaline taste, used as a flux, in soldering metals, making enamels, fixing colors/colours on porcelain, and as a soap, etc.
  2. The sodium salt of boric acid, Na2B4O7, either anhydrous or with 5 or 10 molecules of water of crystallisation; sodium tetraborate.
  3. (sometimes attributive) Cheap or tawdry furniture or other works of industrial design.

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