The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word LEAP YEAR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
L
E
A
P
Y
E
A
R
More clues leading to the result LEAP YEAR
- English novel a player pens, for example 1 11
- In 1988, possibly, a former record label got into real trouble
- Keeping healthy ultimately, fruit on field for a longer time?
- Springtime
- A salmagundi put in oven? One in four roughly
- Springtime — when women propose to break with tradition
- A player sadly taking last place in the quadrennial event
- Time a proposal might generate a jumpy listener?
- Spring time that’s longer than the annual average
- A player confused about end of overture, such as 1812a
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "when women propose to break with tradition (4,4)/when women propose to break with tradition (4,4)" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case when women propose to break with tradition (4,4)/when women propose to break with tradition (4,4) = leap year.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.