The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 2 letter word OPENED UP
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
O
P
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N
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P
More clues leading to the result OPENED UP
- One party in NI admitting heartless police started shooting
- Prepared to do business, spoke more freely
- Revealed work developing need to increase
- After sporting contest, cycling trick exposed
- Two pages, one due to be edited, made more public
- Old writer and editor at university talked freely
- Started communicating or commenced firing?
- Was Frank prepared to trade?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "started shooting" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case started shooting = opened up.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.