| ETHANHAWKE | "Ash Wednesday" and "The Hottest State" novelist |
| HAWKE | Ethan ___, US actor; author of novels Ash Wednesday and The Hottest State (5) |
| SHROVE | ___ Tuesday, day before Ash Wednesday and traditionally the time to make pancakes (6) |
| LENT | Religious observance in the Christian calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday, and which gives its name to a type of hellebore (4) |
| DOGDAYS | The hottest period of the year (reckoned in antiquity from the heliacal rising of the star Sirius) |
| VENUS | The hottest planet and second- brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon, where a single day is around eight Earth months (5) |
| STOVE | Empty seat at the centre of the coven is the hottest spot in the house (5) |
| DEATHVALLEY | The hottest, driest and lowest National Park in the USA |
| SONGOFTHESUMMER | Annual title awarded by Billboard for the hottest tune of the hottest months |
| UNCLE | Fester, to Wednesday and Pugsley, in "The Addams Family" (1991) |
| PLANET | "Death Valley is one of the hottest places on the ." |
| WARMEST | The western stream turns out to be the hottest (7) |
| AFRICA | The hottest of the world's seven continents (6) |
| SUMMER | The hottest season of the year (6) |
| TROPICAL | In or from the hottest parts of the world (8) |
| GHOSTPEPPER | Chile that's among the hottest in the world |
| SUMMERY | Akin to the hottest of the four seasons (7) |
| NAGA | The '___ Viper' pepper is one of the hottest chili peppers ever measured, according to BBC Breakfast presenter Munchetty! (4) |
| CAROLINAREAPER | The hottest chili pepper in the world according to 'Guinness World Records' (8,6) |
| GRILL | Always the hottest one at the cookout out, it consistently draws a crowd |
