Bombers essentially level city bordering lake without shame (8)
I believe the answer is:
brazenly
'without shame' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adverbs. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'bombers essentially level city bordering lake' is the wordplay.
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
'level' becomes 'raze' (synonyms).
'city' becomes 'NY' (short for New York).
'bordering' is an insertion indicator.
'lake' becomes 'L' (geographical abbreviation).
The central letter of 'bombers' is 'b'.
'ny' going around 'l' is 'nly'.
'b'+'raze'+'nly'='BRAZENLY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for brazenly that I've seen is " Boldly, shamelessly".)