The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word COPSE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
O
P
S
E
More clues leading to the result COPSE
- Manage to catch son in wood
- A little wood catches fire ultimately
- Manage to enclose small group of trees
- Bluebottles finishing off shoe brush
- Manage to fence small thicket
- Manage small breaks in wood
- Manage to catch last of criminals in wood
- Officers soundly managed area of woodland
- Bluebottles start to eat wood
- Stiff – right away, gets wood
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "managed area of woodland" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case managed area of woodland = copse.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 COPSE mean?
COPSE noun- A thicket of small trees or shrubs.
- To trim or cut.
- To plant and preserve.