Cryptic crossword clue
Witty opening in springboard, you might say, for novel 3,8,5

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 8 plus 5 letter word THE STEPFORD WIVES

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
H
E
S
T
E
P
F
O
R
D
W
I
V
E
S

Buddy explains!

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.

Latest crossword clues with full explanations