Little creatures after climbing up volcanic rock (6)
I believe the answer is:
pumice
'volcanic rock' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'little creatures after climbing up' is the wordplay.
'little creatures' becomes 'mice' (mouse is a kind of creature. I am not sure about the 'little' bit.).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'climbing' is a reversal indicator (in a down clue, letters climb up).
'up' reversed gives 'pu'.
'mice' after 'pu' is 'PUMICE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pumice that I've seen before include "Solidified lava used as an abrasive" , "Light, porous volcanic rock" , "Volcanic stone used as abrasive" , "Light porous stone used as polishing powder" , "Mineral" .)