The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word TOPSOIL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
O
P
S
O
I
L
More clues leading to the result TOPSOIL
- The best lubricant for a bed's surface
- Work involving operations in part of garden
- Work planting hops, avoiding hard earth
- Covers ring with one large layer of earth
- Hard work involving events in theatre where seeds are sown?
- Hard work involving old spades, bagging soft
- Labour embraces works producing fertile ground
- Earth summits on fuel
- Earth summit’s social oddly ignored
- The cover on the bed
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "earth" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case earth = topsoil.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 TOPSOIL mean?
TOPSOIL noun- The most fertile soil, easiest to start new plants in.