Religious services in Sunderland area offering sea snails (7)
I believe the answer is:
nerites
'religious' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'services in sunderland area offering sea snails' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'services' could be 'rites' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'rites' is located in the answer.
'area' could be 'ne' and 'ne' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for nerites that I've seen is " Molluscs".)