Cryptic crossword clue
Years ago, at the very beginning, 6 turned vertical 1-4

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word Y-AXIS

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
Y
-
A
X
I
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "vertical" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case vertical = y-axis.
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.

Crossword Answer definitions

Y-AXIS noun
  1. The axis on a graph that is usually drawn from bottom to top and usually shows the range of values of variable dependent on one other variable, or the second of two independent variables.

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