Crossword Genius

Lives on spacecraft, one surrounded by water (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

islander

'one surrounded by water' is the definition.
(land surrounded by water)

'lives on spacecraft' is the wordplay.
'lives' becomes 'is' ('be' can be a synonym of 'live').
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'spacecraft' becomes 'lander' (eg a moon lander).
'is'+'lander'='ISLANDER'

(Other definitions for islander that I've seen before include "One from e.g. Skye" , "Samoan, maybe" , "native of Borneo, for example" , "Native of Bali, perhaps" , "Manxman, maybe," .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.