Line up male actors in beach formation (8)
I believe the answer is:
wormcast
'beach formation' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both natural objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'line up male actors' is the wordplay.
'line' becomes 'row' (row is a kind of line).
'up' is a reversal indicator (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'actors' becomes 'cast' (I've seen this before).
'row' backwards is 'wor'.
'wor'+'m'+'cast'='WORMCAST'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wormcast that I've seen before include "Small coil of earth or sand" , "Material thrown up by burrower" , "Smart cow (anag); earth mound" , "Coil of soil thrown up by a wriggler" , "Product of burrowing on lawn" .)