The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word NOHOW
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
N
O
H
O
W
More clues leading to the result NOHOW
- Foreign drama that’s painful under any conditions
- Skill, by the sound of it? Definitely not
- Natural skill, say? Not by any means
- Drama that was painful? Never!
- Specialised skill spoken of? Not at all
- Person who fails to honour commitment: not special, not at all
- Present contains surprise? Emphatically not!
- Broadcasting expertise? Not at all
- Skill in audio? Definitely not
- Not at all disrespectful term for woman in this day and age
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Emphatically not" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case emphatically not = nohow.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.
What does NOHOW mean?
NOHOW adverb- In no way; not at all; by no available means.