The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word NUBIA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
N
U
B
I
A
More clues leading to the result NUBIA
- Point outside of India that has some pyramids
- First rate cake from South African region once
- Sloth, something hairy turning up in old African region
- Excellent hairstyle returns to a region of Africa
- Ancient kingdom in essence borders on India
- Old part of Africa now under boats in Aswan primarily
- Fresh draught reported in region of the Nile
- Focus on heart of bias in old Nilote country
- Region around Nile Delta shunning UN aid bemused to receive billions
- Excellent bit of food seen around old part of Africa
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Nile regio/n/ once" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case nile regio/n/ once = nubia.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.