Crossword Genius

Like the water at the pierhead? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deep

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'like' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'the water at the pierhead?' is the wordplay.
'the water' becomes 'dee' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the pierhead?' becomes 'p' (head letter of 'pier').
'dee'+'p'='DEEP'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deep that I've seen before include "Intense -- extreme" , "Wise - difficult to understand" , "hard to understand" , "Profound - engrossed" , "hard to follow" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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