| FORTISSIMO | Very loud. in music or a hint to the starred answers' initials |
| FFF | Very loud, in music |
| HAVEASPOTOFTEA | Enjoy a warm drink in England, and a phonetic hint to the starred answers' initials |
| RHYTHM | Describing beat, cadence, flow or tempo in music or a harmonious sequence of colours or elements in art, one of the longest words in the English dictionary without vowels (6) |
| THEME | A topic; a recurrent idea in art/ literature; a motif/subject in music; or, a setting given to a pub/restaurant (5) |
| ENBY | Person who doesn't identify as male or female, for short ... or a hint to the starred answers' initials |
| ENVY | Deadly sin that's a hint to the starred answers' "initials" |
| FADE | Gradual increase or decrease in volume in music; or, a dissolve from one image to another in film (4) |
| TEAPARTY | Event that took place in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, or a description of the starred answers' initials |
| EXERCISE | Physical exertion for training or keeping fit; a written school task; a study in music; or, a military drill (8) |
| REPLICA | Word, from "answer, reply", for a repeat in music; or, a copy in art (7) |
| BIND | Another word for a tie in music; or, a problematical situation (4) |
| GLIDE | Portamento in music; or, a semivowel in phonetics (5) |
| THRESH | From an agricultural term meaning beat, flail or tread grain out of corn, a word for a thwack of chastisement; a violent movement of a wave; a struggle in water; a fast exciting race; a loud party; a |
| PRMEN | Some image polishers, or a hint to the starred clues and their answers' initials |
| BASS | One of the words for a flax, hemp, jute or lime fibre bag for holding an angler's fish; a powerful sea perch with a brilliant silver body; or, from "low", the lowest part in music or the deepest male |
| UPSTART | Arrogant newcomer, or a hint to the asterisked answers' initials |
| BEAT | Topic covered by a journalist or a reporter; a pulsation of the heart; rhythm in music or poetry; or, a stretch of river fished by an angler (4) |
| AXE | Word for a hatchet since Anglo-Saxon times; or, from the 1950s, a slang term for an electric guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz (3) |
| STAND | Adjustable frame for holding a score or sheet music; or, a platform in a park for a brass band (5) |
