The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word SUBS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
U
B
S
More clues leading to the result SUBS
- Sandwiches for people on a bench
- Dues to be paid for players not starting
- … those kitted out for the bench
- Journalists’ fees
- Fees for players sitting on the bench
- Reserves making advances
- Starts from scratch, unless buying some replacements
- Lacking credit, cancels membership fee
- American flipped over ridiculous YouTube channel's supporters
- South American bishop’s brought in replacements
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "those kitted out for the bench" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case those kitted out for the bench = subs.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 SUBS mean?
SUBS noun- A submarine.
- A submarine sandwich: a sandwich made on a long bun.
- A substitute, often in sports.
- (often in plural) A subscription: a payment made for membership of a club, etc.
- A subtitle.
- A subroutine (sometimes one that does not return a value, as distinguished from a function, which does).
- A subeditor.
- A subcontractor.
- (BDSM) A submissive.
- A subordinate.
- A subaltern.
- A subscription (or (by extension) a subscriber) to an online channel or feed.
- Subsistence money: part of a worker's wages paid before the work is finished.
- To substitute for.
- To work as a substitute teacher, especially in primary and secondary education.
- To replace (a player) with a substitute.
- Less commonly, and often as sub on, to bring on (a player) as a substitute.
- To perform the work of a subeditor or copy editor; to subedit.
- To lend.
- To subscribe.
- (BDSM) To take a submissive role.
- To coat with a layer of adhering material; to planarize by means of such a coating.
- To prepare (a slide) with a layer of transparent substance to support and/or fix the sample.