The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word AUTOMATA
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
U
T
O
M
A
T
A
More clues leading to the result AUTOMATA
- More than one robot car to snarl up area
- Car half-made by mostly rubbish robots
- Robots running out in the morning, leading to American cheers
- They work tirelessly, packing cut fruit in Gold Coast’s centre
- Gold for mother and army people who act by routine
- Robots' vehicle followed by Hari for one
- Gold to intermingle advanced robots
- Machine chopped fruit that a human regularly bags
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Robots" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case robots = automata.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 AUTOMATA mean?
AUTOMATA noun- A machine or robot designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.
- A person who acts like a machine or robot, often defined as having a monotonous lifestyle and lacking in emotion.
- A formal system, such as finite automaton.
- A toy in the form of a mechanical figure.
- The self-acting power of the muscular and nervous systems, by which movement is effected without intelligent determination.