The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 letter word GET AHEAD
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
G
E
T
A
H
E
A
D
More clues leading to the result GET AHEAD
- What new school must first do to make progress
- What leaderless school must do to make progress
- Avoid gauche volunteers meeting chief in advance
- Understand a source to make progress
- First task when staffing new school is to improve on schedule
- Progress to pull a good pint
- The 2 contrived to be successful
- Advance good Greek character, academic authority
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "to make progress" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to make progress = get ahead.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.