The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word NONCE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
N
O
N
C
E
More clues leading to the result NONCE
- Design on cent’s piece coined for particular occasion
- … Cardinal, formerly a sex offender
- Present time, or one time after noon?
- Unaffiliated to Welby for the present?
- Time being the end of season formerly
- At odds with Anglicanism for the moment?
- Name a single occasion for the present
- Present Only Connect, wanting both sides to get involved
- For now, nobody accepts the speed of light
- Outside the realm of the established church for the time being
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "present" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case present = nonce.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 NONCE mean?
NONCE noun- The one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose (now only in for the nonce).
- A nonce word.
- A value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream, in order to prevent replay attacks.
- One-off; produced or created for a single occasion or use. Denoting something occurring once.
- (prisons) A sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children.
- (prisons) A police informer, one who betrays a criminal enterprise
- A stupid or worthless person.