Crew taking pit workers round a river (8)
I believe the answer is:
mariners
'crew taking' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'pit workers round a river' is the wordplay.
'pit workers' becomes 'miners' (people working down in a pit).
'round' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'a'+'r'='ar'
'miners' enclosing 'ar' is 'MARINERS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mariners that I've seen before include "Seamen" , "Sailors" , "They work at sea" , "Rinse arm (anag)" , "Sea-farers" .)