The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 4 letter word IN PLAY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
N
P
L
A
Y
More clues leading to the result IN PLAY
- Person initially into dental work out of touch?
- Given a role, still on the field
- Batting, have fun as a ball is being bowled
- Where company might be occupying legal position allowing further action
- Pot off niche, left out, plainly cracked
- Active as an actor?
- Plain dancing? We’re told why a ball may be so
- Not out of touch, but not to be taken seriously
- Way to dramatically expose king not ruled out
- Popular player’s first was located not out of bounds
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a ball may be so" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a ball may be so = in play.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.