| LISA | "The Simpsons" character who competed in a crossword tournament |
| ALSORAN | One who competed in a race but did not get a place (4-3) |
| HOMER | The Simpsons character who bets against Lisa in a crossword tournament |
| ERR | Leave a square blank in a crossword tournament, perhaps |
| SVINGTIME | Important factor in a crossword tournament |
| SQUARE | A tool for determining a right angle; a cotton flower-bud; a quadrilateral; or, something four-sided, such as a cell in a crossword grid, a chocolate brownie, a formation of troops, a marketplace, a m |
| TIMED | Like the puzzles at a crossword tournament |
| ERASURE | Mark on a crossword tournament puzzle |
| TIMELIMIT | 15 minutes, say, at a crossword tournament |
| FASTEST | Most likely to win a crossword tournament, perhaps |
| SPEED | Scoring factor at a crossword tournament |
| DONE | Triumphant shout at a crossword tournament |
| ALIBI | "I couldn't have robbed that bank, because I was at a crossword tournament," e.g. |
| IONA | New Rochelle college hosting a November crossword tournament |
| FODDER | Feed or forage for a herd; a seed from which a clue is grown in a crossword; food to fuel imagination or figuratively chew on; or, soldiers, proverbially consumed by a cannon (6) |
| NERDFEST | Crossword tournament, e.g. (we can say this) |
| TIMES | Scoring factors in crossword tournaments |
| SCRABBLE | Board-and-tile game in which two to four players compete in forming words with lettered tiles on a 225-square board, like words in a crossword puzzle. (8) |
| SYNONYM | That which means the same a in a crossword? (7) |
| SOLVERSTAR | *Crossword tournament champion? |
