Top European waterway skirting state missile launching site (4,9)
I believe the answer is:
cape canaveral
'launching site' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'top european waterway skirting state missile' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'top' could be 'cap' (both can mean to beat or outdo) and 'cap' is present in the answer.
'european' could be 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU) and 'e' is located in the answer.
'state' could be 'aver' (both can mean to declare) and 'aver' is found within the answer.
'waterway' could be 'canal' (I've seen this before) and 'canal' is found within the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cape canaveral that I've seen before include "Florida space flight centre" , "space reached from here" , "US space launch centre" , "US space launch site" .)