Thin layer of dirt on container resulting from a lack of rain (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
dust bowl
'thin layer' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'dirt on container resulting from a lack of rain' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'dirt' could be 'dust' (dust is a kind of dirt) and 'dust' is found in the answer.
'container' could be 'bowl' (bowl is a kind of container) and 'bowl' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dust bowl that I've seen before include "Drought area in the US" , "Result of drought, bad farming" , "Drought-stricken prairies in the US that suffered storms of fine powder in the 1930s" , "Place that's dry" .)