The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 plus 4 plus 2 letter word THE POWERS THAT BE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
H
E
P
O
W
E
R
S
T
H
A
T
B
E
More clues leading to the result THE POWERS THAT BE
- Who she better tap for a change of position?
- What better hopes for reforming those in authority?
- ‘Wet’ beer shop – that drunken establishment
- Unusual Web post there about Derby authorities?
- He bet H. Potter was upset with those in authority
- Wind swept with hot breath round Eastern establishment
- Those in charge could be better — what hopes!
- What better hopes for replacing those with influence?
- Prisoner held amid best threat he devised for prevailing authority
- Article confronting women in kinky tape bothers people in charge
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "authorities" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case authorities = the powers that be.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.