The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 letter word MAX
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
M
A
X
Buddy explains!
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 MAX mean?
MAX noun- An extreme, a great extent.
- A kind of gin.
- (usually with out) to reach the limit, to reach the maximum.
- Maximum; maximal.
- The highest limit
- The greatest value of a set or other mathematical structure, especially the global maximum or a local maximum of a function
- An upper bound of a set which is also an element of that set
- The largest value of a batch or sample or the upper bound of a probability distribution
- A 147 break; the highest possible break
- A score of 180 with three darts
- A scoring shot for 6 runs