Sailor into the water – wanting a river to get clean (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
above board
'clean' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'sailor into the water wanting a river' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'sailor' could be 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman) and 'ab' is located in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
'river' could be 'r' (abbreviation) and 'r' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to get' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for above board that I've seen before include "How player lifts men to make moves" , "Openly" , "Legitimate, honest" , "MD is" , "without being underhand" .)