| GOLDSTANDARD | Former system for defining currency value |
| LINERS | Paper sheets for scenting drawers; cosmetic pencils for defining eyes; large passenger ships; or, fine paintbrushes (6) |
| TSARISM | Former system of Russian government prior to 1917 (7) |
| COMMUNISM | Russia's former system of government (9) |
| SNAKE | In the European Union, a former system of managing a group of currencies by allowing the exchange rate of each to fluctuate within narrow limits |
| WEBSTER | Scorer defining route for lexicographer (7) |
| LUSTRE | Metallic, pearly, silky, dull, vitreous ... word for the way in which light interacts with a crystal or other mineral as one of its defining properties (6) |
| EDGER | Border-defining gardening tool |
| TESTCASE | Defining moment in law (4,4) |
| ICONIC | One ellipse, maybe, as a defining shape (6) |
| LEAST | Lowest point, "bottom" defining it? (5) |
| TROPIC | Line defining hot zone (6) |
| CYNIC | "Mordancy" nicely defining one of her characteristics? (5) |
| PARAMETER | Factor defining limits (9) |
| BAND | Musicians defining council tax? (4) |
| NEVER | Absolute refusal comes near to defining womankind (5) |
| MUST | Have to, when defining frenzy in elephants (4) |
| FORMULA | Symbols defining chemical composition (7) |
| STRUMUNDDRANG | Defining traits of an emo guitarist? (German) |
| STATEOFFLUX | Position of uncertainty after a defining event (5,2,4) |
