The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word PANAMA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
A
N
A
M
A
More clues leading to the result PANAMA
- Father has a chap returning hat
- Hat in canal
- Slag off a close relative, an exporter of bananas and pineapples
- Airline that collapsed beside a canal
- Severely criticise a mother’s wide-brimmed hat
- Hat country divided by boaters?
- Some seaman apparently raised hat
- Airline no longer flying over a country
- Father upset a bloke in region around canal
- Criticise a mother's hat
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "an exporter of bananas and pineapples" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case an exporter of bananas and pineapples = panama.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.