Lady catches a cold after sailor reaches surface (10)
I believe the answer is:
tarmacadam
'surface' is the definition.
(tarmacadam is a kind of surface)
'lady catches a cold after sailor' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'lady' could be 'ada' (woman's name) and 'ada' is located in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
'cold' could be 'c' (eg on taps) and 'c' is found within the answer.
'sailor' could be 'rm' (abbreviation for Royal Marine) and 'rm' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'tam' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'reaches' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tarmacadam that I've seen before include "could cover one's tracks" , "Road surfacing" , "Road-surfacing material" , "Road surface" .)