The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word INCUBATE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
N
C
U
B
A
T
E
More clues leading to the result INCUBATE
- Brood at home, worried about youngster
- Keep warm on an island, taking endless cuppas?
- In Caribbean location, extremes of temperature required to keep warm
- Develop curiosity without others about island
- At home, baby’s fed to grow
- Warm for a while on an island, followed by extremes of temperature
- Brood at home on Caribbean island, extremely tactile
- Brood over note in Caribbean republic
- Brood at home — one of the youngsters took food
- When at home whelp destroyed brood
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Warm for a while/Warm for a while" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case warm for a while/warm for a while = incubate.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 INCUBATE mean?
INCUBATE verb- To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
- To incubate metaphorically; to ponder an idea slowly and deliberately as if in preparation for hatching it.