The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word RUHR
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
R
U
H
R
More clues leading to the result RUHR
- Coalmining area originally repressed under harsh rule
- Game personnel in industrial region
- Between two rivers, what was that German region?
- Lying between two rivers, what was that industrial region?
- Sandwiched between two rivers, what was that valley?
- Part of Germany: sport here always ignoring English
- Miner hurries over fences in industrial region
- Some worker hurrying around industrial region
- Some commuter hurried around industrial region
- Builder hurriedly erected housing area in Germany
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Part of Germany" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case part of germany = ruhr.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.