The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 4 letter word UP THE ANTE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
U
P
T
H
E
A
N
T
E
More clues leading to the result UP THE ANTE
- Completed articles by Lawrence? Ask for more
- To increase demands at college, you must devour a lot of books
- Set a higher standard at university, you once devoured advanced books
- Rising heat with ten playing to magnify the risk
- Raise stakes put heated in ground dig mostly ignored
- Hate punt going wrong? Finally decide to bet even more
- UN, pet hate, mobilised to increase risk?
- Completed articles on Lawrence? Ask for more
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "To increase demands" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to increase demands = up the ante.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.