Still on the sea bed around California and Maine (8)
I believe the answer is:
becalmed
'still on the sea' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'bed around california and maine' is the wordplay.
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'california' becomes 'cal' (short for California).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'maine' becomes 'me'.
'cal'+'me'='calme'
'bed' enclosing 'calme' is 'BECALMED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for becalmed that I've seen before include "(of sailing ship) unable to move" , "Motionless through lack of wind" , "still at sea" , "As a sailing ship without wind" , "In the doldrums" .)