Druh6sm, I'd never have got this without cheating - and I've done literally 1000s of crosswords! The first six letters can mean 'mutants', totally new to me. The next three letters give a common word for staff. verb and and the last four give a very common 'vessel'. The whole thing gives, apparently, what you can 'expect from amateurs', though I don't know why they're singled out!