| SEARING | Burning surface of lifebelt? (7) |
| GOTOSEA | Were all given share of lifebelts, apparently, to join navy |
| FLOATS | Buoyant things, such as the balls of ballcocks, corks/quills of fishing-lines, dolphins for mooring, lifebelts, rafts or scoops of ice cream in cola (6) |
| RUBBERRING | Toy lifebelt (6,4) |
| ISLET | One starts to secure lifebelt, expecting to land in river |
| RATING | Sailor: a matelot ultimately saved by lifebelt say? (6) |
| ISTLE | Fibre in lifebelts is rejected |
| GROUNDWATER | H2O beneath the surface of the soil, consisting largely of moisture that has seeped down from the surface: the source of springs and wells (6,5) |
| EMERSE | Of the leaves of an aquatic plant, rising above the surface of the water (6) |
| CRATERS | Much of the surface of Mars |
| EFFLORESCE | (Of salts) crystallise on the surface of brickwork |
| EROSION | Process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of natural forces |
| MEKONG | End of battle among soldiers on surface of great Chinese river (6) |
| GEOGRAPHY | Science of the surface of the earth and its inhabitants (9) |
| SCREED | Layer of mortar on the surface of a floor (6) |
| REEFS | Submerged ridges of rock or coral near the surface of water (5) |
| PING | Metallic sound as thin piece of steel lands on surface of ground (4) |
| RETINA | Light-sensitive tissue lining much of the back surface of the eyeball (6) |
| LEMNA | Minute aquatic herbs floating on or below the water surface of still water consisting of a leaflike |
| CENTRAL | Great mountainous plateau that covers almost a sixth of the surface of France (6,7) |
