| PENNINES | Coppers around the North are the backbone of England (8) |
| ARENAS | Regions around the north are spheres of action (6) |
| PRETENCE | Again, a bit of an act when there are coppers around (8) |
| NEDS | Some of the guys Dennis sent north are hooligans (4) |
| CAUTIOUS | Copper, around a junction, promises to be wary (8) |
| CLEVERDICK | Bighead caught by copper around bar |
| MAINSTAY | It's the backbone of sanity, ma (8) |
| THEPENNINES | Range of hills known as the "backbone of England" |
| PENNINEWAY | Footpath along the backbone of England (7,3) |
| VERTEBRA | Backbone of Green support in Europe? On the contrary (8) |
| ROCKIES | The ___ , mountain range forming the backbone of the western North American continent (7) |
| THEROCKIES | Byname of the mountain range forming the backbone of the western U.S. that stretches from Canada to New Mexico (3,7) |
| NCOS | "The backbone of the Army," per the U.S. Army |
| PFCS | "The backbone of the Marines" |
| SPINALCOLUMN | The backbone of a porcupine? (6,6) |
| RIDGE | The backbone of an animal (5) |
| APENNINES | Mountain range forming the "backbone" of Italy |
| SNIPE | It's the backbone of a bird! |
| WHIP | Political party discipline o cial; a crop-like device; a mousse-like pudding; or, the backbone of a windmill sail (4) |
| BASE | ___ pair (link between the backbones of nucleic acid molecules, such as adenine and thymine in DNA) |
