They return to the sea, having grown up on land, escaping from the sand, for starters (4)
I believe the answer is:
efts
'they return to the sea having grown up on land' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.
'escaping from the sand for starters' is the wordplay.
'for starters' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'escaping from the sand' is 'EFTS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for efts that I've seen before include "Baby newts" , "Amphibians" , "Kind of newts" , "Old lizards" .)