The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word HAZEL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
H
A
Z
E
L
More clues leading to the result HAZEL
- Light brown mist beginning to lift
- Smog left brown colour
- Girl in mist going over lake
- Miss, perhaps, loch, with fog to the west
- Reduced visibility with large eye shade
- Creation of 16 across in shade of tree?
- Girl needing guide through underworld realm of the dead
- Mist over large tree
- Vapour left in tree
- Brown
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "eye shade" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case eye shade = hazel.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 HAZEL mean?
HAZEL noun- A tree or shrub of the genus Corylus, bearing edible nuts called hazelnuts or filberts.
- The nut of the hazel tree.
- The wood of a hazelnut tree.
- A greenish-brown colour, the colour of a ripe hazelnut.
- Freestone
- Of a greenish-brown colour. (often used to refer to eye colour)