Like refined pursuits of sect on Russian river (8)
I believe the answer is:
cultural
'like refined pursuits' is the definition.
(as in cultural interests)
'sect on russian river' is the wordplay.
'sect' becomes 'cult' (I've seen this before).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'russian river' becomes 'ural' (I've seen this in another clue).
'cult'+'ural'='CULTURAL'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cultural that I've seen before include "Relating to the arts and customs" , "Relating to shared knowledge and values of a society" , "Relating to the arts and manners of a group" , "Artistic" , "Of a group's shared knowledge and values" .)