The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word KENTUCKY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
K
E
N
T
U
C
K
Y
More clues leading to the result KENTUCKY
- Northern stuff embraced by central US state
- Part of US food range — variable sandwiches
- 24’s friend visiting coffee producer
- Where you may see Derby County, fortunate after losing start
- County fortunate not starting to become a state
- New food in central Derby location
- American state or county fortunate having no leader
- State county’s horrible when lacking leadership
- Part of US
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Part of US" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case part of us = kentucky.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.