The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word WIDOWS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
W
I
D
O
W
S
More clues leading to the result WIDOWS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Their husbands are late/extra hands of cards" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case their husbands are late/extra hands of cards = widows.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 WIDOWS mean?
WIDOWS noun- A woman whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); feminine of widower.
- A person whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried).
- (in combination) A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a sport, etc.
- An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.
- A single line of type that ends a paragraph, carried over to the next page or column.
- A venomous spider, of the genus Latrodectus.
- To make a widow or widower of someone; to cause the death of the spouse of.
- To strip of anything valued.
- To endow with a widow's right.
- To be widow to.