Amateur question-and-answer jerks and pond life (8)

I believe the answer is:

aquatics

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'and pond life' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'amateur question-and-answer jerks' is the wordplay.
'amateur' becomes 'a'.
'question' becomes 'qu' (abbreviation).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'jerks' becomes 'tics'.
'a'+'qu'+'a'+'tics'='AQUATICS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aquatics that I've seen before include "Water sports" , "pool features" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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