The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 5 letter word DE FACTO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
D
E
F
A
C
T
O
More clues leading to the result DE FACTO
- Really hot cafe, door guards going around
- Statute penned by old novelist limited in effect
- Excellent performance on Love Actually
- Given meal in turn — bill to follow actually
- Fed up with drama – nothing to it really
- Really scoffed about performer finishing early
- In reality, nasty two-faced women will be shunned
- Endless damage to legal term
- Really brilliant play’s over
- Skilful, holding account over, in effect
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "actually" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case actually = de facto.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.