The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MINNESOTA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
I
N
N
E
S
O
T
A
More clues leading to the result MINNESOTA
- The writer's recalled nineteen characters around Northern American state
- State of the old lady full of tensionafter breakdown
- Maine's not, unfortunately — this state?
- Parent circles pub, beginning to enter drunk state …
- Pandemonium finally over collapse of Estonian state
- State of Maine’s not changing
- State sources, including name, with love and thanks
- Dipso by hotel, in Maine area, in state
- Maine’s not mistaken for another state
- Marshal nominates 1 in 50
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "state" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case state = minnesota.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.