New writer's boat brought back water container (6)
I believe the answer is:
nimbus
'water container' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both natural objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'new writer's boat brought back' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'writer's' becomes 'I'm' ('I am' referring to the writer of the clue).
'boat' becomes 'sub' (I've seen this before).
'brought back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'sub' written backwards gives 'bus'.
'n'+'im'+'bus'='NIMBUS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nimbus that I've seen before include "Dirty cloud; saintly light" , "round one's head?" , "Is numb (anag)" , "One may be seeded" , "Bums in (anag)" .)