Solo sailor finding snail? (7)
I believe the answer is:
abalone
'snail?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'solo sailor' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'solo' could be 'alone' (I've seen this before) and 'alone' is found in the answer.
'sailor' could be 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman) and 'ab' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'finding' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abalone that I've seen before include "Source of mother-of-pearl" , "Sea food must be found" , "Edible marine mollusc -- Oban ale (anag)" , "something to eat from the sea" , "marine creature" .)