The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word BOROUGH
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
B
O
R
O
U
G
H
More clues leading to the result BOROUGH
- Old boy going up unpleasant part of city?
- Branch opened up by men in part of London
- Town lad endlessly lacking in refinement
- Hygiene issue not even in town
- Queens, perhaps, keeping gold in branch
- Return of major river’s agitÂated state just down from London Bridge
- Unwell after stench from pit comes to town
- Bishop takes over violent town
- Whiff linked to unrefined town
- Such may have been rotten old boy turning crude
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Such may have been rotten" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case such may have been rotten = borough.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 BOROUGH mean?
BOROUGH noun- A fortified town.
- A town or city.
- A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights.
- An administrative district in some cities, e.g., London.
- An administrative unit of a city which, under most circumstances according to state or national law, would be considered a larger or more powerful entity; most commonly used in American English to define the five counties that make up New York City.
- Other similar administrative units in cities and states in various parts of the world.
- A district in Alaska having powers similar to a county.
- An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behaviour of each other.
- The pledge or surety thus given.