The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word TREE HOUSE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
R
E
E
H
O
U
S
E
More clues leading to the result TREE HOUSE
- Injured bird leaves stormy Outer Hebrides for shelter in wood
- Outdoor shelter rebuilt there to overlook river
- Suspect here to exploit a leafy hideaway
- Previous family residence used for play
- Unfortunately, these euro coins build up
- Build here to use elevated accommodation
- Tarzan’s home dismantled to use here?
- Shelter reached by climbing backward, bare cheek exposed in very short pants
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Outdoor shelter" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case outdoor shelter = tree house.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.