Cryptic crossword clue
Secretary was in charge but faded 5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PALED

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
A
L
E
D

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "faded" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case faded = paled.
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 PALED mean?

PALED verb
  1. To turn pale; to lose colour.
  2. To become insignificant.
  3. To make pale; to diminish the brightness of.
PALED verb
  1. To enclose with pales, or as if with pales; to encircle or encompass; to fence off.
PALED adjective
  1. Striped.
  2. Enclosed with a paling.

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