The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 letter word SEA LION
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
E
A
L
I
O
N
More clues leading to the result SEA LION
- Close up by one concerning marine mammal
- On isle in a storm, there's shelter for a beastly swimmer
- Bean possibly containing stuff for frying up, one often immersed in salty water
- Creature‘s terrible noise round a lake
- One with deep pride?
- Close to one performing animal
- Making noise about a large mammal
- Close in, catching ocean mammal in cold water
- Occasionally seen as laid-back on the coast creature
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "beastly swimmer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case beastly swimmer = sea lion.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does SEA LION mean?
SEA LION noun- A marine mammal of any of several genera in the family Otariidae (the eared seals).
- A monster consisting of the upper part of a lion combined with the tail of a fish.