The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word OBOES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
O
B
O
E
S
More clues leading to the result OBOES
- Gongs eclipsing old woodwind instruments
- Old doctor disposing of new instruments
- Players booed endlesslyby character at front of stalls
- Old blowers regularly play these
- Touring Ohio, a lot of very fat musicians
- Instruments taking over tenor sax intro
- Nothing in awards for noted producers
- Tramps heading off — they make a musical sound
- Parts of orchestra band drowned by gongs
- Music makers assembled from former pupils, including leading Old Etonians
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "these" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case these = oboes.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 OBOES mean?
OBOES noun- A soprano and melody wind instrument in the modern orchestra and wind ensemble. It is a smaller instrument and generally made of grenadilla wood. It is a member of the double reed family.