| SISYPHEAN | Pointlessly hard - hard and, yes, pain's involved |
| PLAINNESS | Honesty: nice first of all, with less pain involved |
| SLOG | Work hard - hard work (4) |
| HUSHHUSH | American comes in hard, hard, repeatedly on the quiet (4-4) |
| TOIL | Work hard - hard work (4) |
| GHETTO | Land round hard, hard area (6) |
| THOUGH | Hard, hard parts, however (6) |
| TOSH | Nonsense! Put back "hard, hard drinker" (4) |
| EDDINGTON | Paul -, starred in Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Mininster (9) |
| HACKER | Jim ____ was played by Paul Eddington in Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister |
| HUMPHREYAPPLEBY | Knighted mandarin played by Nigel Hawthorne in Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister (8,7) |
| ANTONYJAY | Co-author, with Jonathan Lynn, of the TV series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister who was knighted in 1988 |
| BERNARD | Who did Derek Fowlds play in TV's Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister? (7) |
| DIANAHODDINOTT | Actress who played Jim Hacker's wife Annie in Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister |
| ALABASTER | "I'm ___, and, yes, I was legitimate, so don't ask." |
| AHAB | A whaling captain and yes ___ a seaman! (4) |
| ERASURE | Queen and Yes entertaining a group from the 80s (7) |
| WEDNESDAY | Member of 16A with Miliband and yes, Balls (9) |
| ARNO | A river? No - and yes! |
| EVERGLADES | Always happy and yes, topless, in marshy Florida (10) |
