The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ALUMINIUM
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
L
U
M
I
N
I
U
M
More clues leading to the result ALUMINIUM
- Metal or salt containing little uranium
- A large classy car: I hesitate to say it’s elementary
- Around lunchtime, old students get university money for metal
- Element in both metal and alloy?
- Metal I dropped over the Atlantic
- It’s not heavy metal that Americans have removed one from
- Fifty in gold, at least a thousand short for material
- Metal that's bright, not so round, found in America
- Complex rubber getting removed by cleansing chemical element
- Minimal working around one uni then another for Al
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Al" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case al = aluminium.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 ALUMINIUM mean?
ALUMINIUM noun- A light, silvery metal extracted from bauxite, and a chemical element (symbol Al) with an atomic number of 13.
- A single atom of this element.
- Aircraft or other machinery made partially or wholly of aluminium.