The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word BEECH
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
B
E
E
C
H
More clues leading to the result BEECH
- It could supply mast, either sort
- Beg to avoid two directions in wood
- Old community found in outskirts of British wood
- Wood – 6 Down leaving in the morning
- It has branches in Strand we hear
- Busy person starts to chop hickory wood
- Wood — famous conductor taking morning off
- Busy person starts to chamfer hard wood
- Couple starting bright and early, both caught short, needing tree!
- Source of mast that’s come ashore, we hear
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Wood" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case wood = beech.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 BEECH mean?
BEECH noun- A tree of the genus Fagus having a smooth, light grey trunk, oval, pointed leaves and many branches.
- The wood of the beech tree.