The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word BETEL
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
B
E
T
E
L
More clues leading to the result BETEL
- Something risky — the Spanish people may chew on it
- Insect you might catch: it has leaves to chew
- Place for Jacob's ladder, not hotel plant
- Chewed leaf Henry removed from nonconformist chapel
- Reportedly insect gets leaf to chew
- Narcotic leaf insect picked up
- Plant, member of 1960s group reportedly …
- Nut in car picked up
- Stake attached to the Spanish climbing plant
- Stake the Spanish climbing plant
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Narcotic/Narcotic/ leaf" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case narcotic/narcotic/ leaf = betel.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 BETEL mean?
BETEL noun- Either of two plants often used in combination:
- A quid (chewing preparation) containing these and other plant materials; paan.