The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word WHALER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
W
H
A
L
E
R
More clues leading to the result WHALER
- Maybe Ahab's wife in better health
- Tramp across Oz with it going on your toes mostly?
- Ship with loud speaker one disconnected
- Salt gathering in huge quarry
- Wife having got healthier, one may go to work at sea
- Ship of comparatively fit women must come first
- Ahab‘s wife confronted with vigorous resistance
- Hunter: one complaining, audibly
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Salt gathering in huge quarry" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case salt gathering in huge quarry = whaler.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 WHALER mean?
WHALER noun- One who hunts whales; a person employed in the whaling industry.
- A seagoing vessel used for hunting whales.
- One who whales (flogs or beats).
- A large, strong person.
- Something of unusually great size, a whopper, a whacker.
- Any shark of the family Carcharhinidae; a requiem shark.
- A sundowner; one who cruises about.