Cryptic crossword clue
Wife entered as the bell rang and smiled with her eyes …

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word TWINKLED

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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The straight part
We know that "smiled with her eyes" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case smiled with her eyes = twinkled.
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 TWINKLED mean?

TWINKLED verb
  1. (of a source of light) to shine with a flickering light; to glimmer
  2. (chiefly of eyes) to be bright with delight
  3. To bat, blink or wink the eyes
  4. To flit to and fro

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