Crossword Genius

River scavenger, lad at work in darkness (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mudlark

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'river scavenger' is the definition.
'mudlark' can be an answer for 'scavenger' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'river' bit.

'lad at work in darkness' is the wordplay.
'at work' is an anagram indicator.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'darkness' becomes 'murk' (I have seen 'Gloomy darkness' mean 'murk' so perhaps 'darkness' could also mean 'murk').
'lad' anagrammed gives 'dla'.
'dla' inserted into 'murk' is 'MUDLARK'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mudlark that I've seen before include "One scavenging beside river" , "flyer" , "Scavenger" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app