The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 letter word WATER SKI
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
W
A
T
E
R
S
K
I
More clues leading to the result WATER SKI
- Wears kit adapted: one way to follow a boat
- Show at Erskine displaying leisure equipment
- Sports equipment demonstrated adventurous streak in women’s organisation
- Write and ask when disposed to do sport
- Sadly at risk we skim over the surface
- Take part in an activity on water, and risk a wet undoing
- To ride on board – running a risk to get wet
- Write and ask about sports equipment
- Wear kits used for this sport
- Woman rates horrible kiss two out of four being a sport
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "skim over the surface" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case skim over the surface = water ski.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.