The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word QUEEN
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
Q
U
E
E
N
More clues leading to the result QUEEN
- Piece, central to, or on the far side of, banner
- Group leader
- Tom’s mate, man and woman leading band
- Honour, or bestower of one
- She commands state to cede southern territory
- Mosque encouraged to welcome head of state
- Question over colour
- In essence, mystique enfolds her
- Perfect speech with a New York twang?
- As a 12 might it succeed Brown Windsor soup and Crown roast?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Tom’s mate/man/woman leading/band" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case tom’s mate/man/woman leading/band = queen.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 QUEEN mean?
QUEEN noun- A female monarch. Example: Queen Victoria.
- The wife or widow of a king.
- The most powerful piece, able to move any number of spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
- A playing card with the letter "Q" and the image of a queen on it, the twelfth card in a given suit.
- A red disk that is the most valuable piece in the Asian game of carom.
- A powerful or forceful female person.
- An effeminate male homosexual. (See usage notes.)
- A reproductive female animal in a hive, such as an ant, bee, termite or wasp.
- An adult female cat valued for breeding. See also tom.
- A queen olive.
- A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp., esp. Danaus gilippus).
- To make a queen.
- To act the part of a queen; to queen it.
- To promote a pawn, usually to a queen.
- To provide with a new queen.
- To be the queen of a colony.
- (BDSM, of a female) To sit on the face of (a partner) to receive oral sex.