The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 7 letter word IN ESSENCE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
N
E
S
S
E
N
C
E
More clues leading to the result IN ESSENCE
- Popular extract, basically
- Basically, where some Germans live with religious body
- Fundamentally fashionable German city church
- Basically not fine to manipulate fiancé? Not half
- Where some Ruhr citizens live, subverting EC basically
- Fashionable perfume, fundamentally
- Diplomacy without force supported by northern church, basically
- Wreck since seen at bottom
- Substantially surrounded by German city church
- During outrageous scenes, get naked at bottom
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "at bottom" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case at bottom = in essence.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.