The French return to Spanish domain with marine creature (4)
I believe the answer is:
seal
'marine creature' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french return to spanish domain' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la' ('the' in French).
'return' is a reversal indicator.
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'spanish domain' becomes 'se' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'la' back-to-front is 'al'.
'al' put after 'se' is 'SEAL'.
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for seal that I've seen before include "Bull or cow" , "Stamp of guarantee" , "Aquatic mammal - close securely" , "Imprinted disk affixed to a document" , "Sea mammal in sale" .)