The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PATCH
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
A
T
C
H
More clues leading to the result PATCH
- The way to keep head from clonking bed
- Plot precisely hitting the mark over clubhouse
- Small amount of material initially covered in course
- … caught en route to bed
- Priest at church for a period of time
- Piece
- Pressure put on naff chat shows piece
- Plot way to catch cold
- Way to describe cold spell
- Cover part of Expat Chris
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a period of time" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a period of time = patch.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 PATCH mean?
PATCH noun- A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.
- A small piece of anything used to repair damage or a breach; as, a patch on a kettle, a roof, etc.
- A piece of any size, used to repair something for a temporary period only, or that it is temporary because it is not meant to last long or will be removed as soon as a proper repair can be made, which will happen in the near future.
- A small, usually contrasting but always somehow different or distinct, part of something else (location, time, size)
- (specifically) A small area, a small plot of land or piece of ground.
- A local region of professional responsibility.
- A small piece of black silk stuck on the face or neck to heighten beauty by contrast, worn by ladies in the 17th and 18th centuries; an imitation beauty mark.
- A piece of material used to cover a wound.
- An adhesive piece of material, impregnated with a drug, which is worn on the skin, the drug being slowly absorbed over a period of time.
- A cover worn over a damaged eye, an eyepatch.
- A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting.
- A patch file, a file that describes changes to be made to a computer file or files, usually changes made to a computer program that fix a programming bug.
- A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.
- A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.
- (often patch cable, patch cord etc.; see also patch panel) A cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment.
- A sound setting for a musical synthesizer (originally selected by means of a patch cable).
- An overlay used to obtain a stronger impression.
- To mend by sewing on a piece or pieces of cloth, leather, or the like
- To mend with pieces; to repair by fastening pieces on.
- To make out of pieces or patches, like a quilt.
- To join or unite the pieces of; to patch the skirt.
- To employ a temporary, removable electronic connection, as one between two components in a communications system.
- (generally with the particle "up") To repair or arrange in a hasty or clumsy manner
- To make the changes a patch describes; to apply a patch to the files in question. Hence:
- To connect two pieces of electrical equipment using a cable.
- A paltry fellow; a rogue; a ninny; a fool.