| BRIC | Which acronym, using the initials of the countries concerned, groups together four major, rapidly developing economies? (4) |
| PTA | Curriculum-concerned group: Abbr. |
| SSNZ | Which acronym is the name of the association formed by the Southern Hemisphere's four leading rugby nations? (7) |
| COMPASS | Instrument whose four ordinal points are represented by the initials of the four starred entries, which also explains their placement in the grid |
| TANDU | Letters Of the alphabet, which are, fittingly for 2021's first crossword, the initials of the theme entries |
| EUROS | Units of currency of 19 of the countries in an organisation which the UK is considering leaving (5) |
| JOHNNYHART | Creator of the classic comic strip whose title is the initials of the *clue answers |
| GAL | Old fashioned term of girl (or the initials of the little prince of Cambridge) (3) |
| FRONTAL | - lobe; functioning as a type of anatomical control panel responsible for many of our important cognitive skills, one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain (7) |
| COMMONWEALTH | The - - -, organisation consisting of the United Kingdom and most of the countries that were previously under its rule (12) |
| JK | "Rowling" along: The initials of the writer of the Harry Potter books (or what a texter types when she's "just kidding") |
| RAS | What are the initials of the flying club founded in the United Kingdom in 1966 and for which Prince Philip was Air Commodore? (1,1,1) |
| EMPTY | Containing nothing, or a word that sounds like the initials of the answers to the starred clues |
| FGTH | Give the initials of the group which had number ones with Relax and Two Tribes. (1,1,1,1) |
| SC | Which acronym describes the equipment which allows divers to swim underwater? (5) |
| RISS | Third of the four major Alpine glacial periods of the Pleistocene epoch, between the Gunz and Mindel and the Wurm (1,1,1,1) |
| ARUBA | One of the countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| SUDRAS | Members of the lowest of the four major Hindu castes of traditional Indian society |
| ATLAS | A book with maps of the countries of the world (5) |
| AFRICAN | A native, inhabitant or citizen of any of the countries of Africa (7) |
