The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word INFANCY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
I
N
F
A
N
C
Y
More clues leading to the result INFANCY
- I tend to think about northern childhood
- Childhood at home, far from plain
- Like to go on home? It’s early days
- Early childhood, I suspect, includes introduction to neighbours
- Early period imagined?
- Childhood home gets love from Will
- Early period at home needing love
- Fashionable and complicated, being a child
- Childhood dreams occur thus?
- Early stage, where batting complicated
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Youth" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case youth = infancy.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 INFANCY mean?
INFANCY noun- The earliest period of childhood (crawling rather than walking).
- The state of being an infant.
- An early stage in the development of anything.
- The state of being a minor.