The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word AIR GUITAR
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
I
R
G
U
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T
A
R
More clues leading to the result AIR GUITAR
- Insubstantial contribution to popular music?
- Mimed playing song? It’s caught by screen, briefly
- AIR GUITAR
- Instrument invented by plucky performer?
- Instrument you imagine is involved in heavy metal?
- Imagined axe slashed a rug — it cut into screen
- Whereon plucky action occurs in one’s mind
- Chuck Berry’s fabulous jam?
- It doesn’t take any pluck to play this
- An unreal plaything with no strings attached?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Whereon plucky action occurs in one’s mind" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case whereon plucky action occurs in one’s mind = air guitar.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.