The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word NEAR EAST
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
N
E
A
R
E
A
S
T
More clues leading to the result NEAR EAST
- Asia Minor etc, arena set to change
- Regions appearing in final in this part of the world?
- Transcontinental region, northern area set for redevelopment
- Region in secluded place in western Asia
- Ned dared dad to drop daughters by road in part of Asia
- Region‘s captured by ten warring countries
- Make home around region in
- Western Asian states formerly in decline are as tempting
- Settle around region in the Arab world?
- Locations investing in web in this part of the world
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Western Asian states formerly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case western asian states formerly = near east.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.