River boats arranged by sailor for contractors, perhaps? (12)

I believe the answer is:

abbreviators

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'contractors perhaps?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'river boats arranged by sailor' is the wordplay.
'arranged' indicates anagramming the letters.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'river'+'boats'='riverboats'
'riverboats' is an anagram of 'breviators'.
'breviators' after 'ab' is 'ABBREVIATORS'.

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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