Deeply impressed and serious in intention? (8)
I believe the answer is:
engraved
'deeply impressed' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'serious in intention?' is the wordplay.
'serious' becomes 'grave' (both can mean solemn).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'intention?' becomes 'end' (end can mean one's purpose or goal).
'grave' put within 'end' is 'ENGRAVED'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for engraved that I've seen before include "Cut, carved (a design)" , "Cut or impressed into a surface" , "Carved into surface" , "deeply impressed" .)