The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word UMBRA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
U
M
B
R
A
More clues leading to the result UMBRA
- Ghost writer’s latest found in a bum novel
- Shadow some dumb rating
- Uninvited guest accompanied Romeo getting down in dance
- Shade of offence, say, over being ignored
- Say backing away from offence is a shadowy area
- Pass British artist in shade
- Uninvited guest makes MsThurman a British Rail sandwich
- 12 like being upset and avoiding offence
- Shadow cast by letter from Athens about garment
- Hesitate to support uninvited guest
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Shadow" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case shadow = umbra.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 UMBRA mean?
UMBRA noun- The fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object.
- The central region of a sunspot.
- A shadow.
- An uninvited guest brought along by one who was invited.
- One of the family Umbridae of mudminnows.
- A sciaenoid fish, the umbrine.