| HALVA | A Middle East sweetmeat containing sesame seeds, honey, nuts and saffron (5) |
| HALAVAHS | Sweetmeats containing sesame seeds, honey, nuts and saffron (8) |
| NOUGAT | Chewy sweetmeat containing nuts and cherries |
| HALVAH | Sesame seeds honey confection |
| OCHRE | Earthy pigment with a rich history and, despite its etymological foundation "yellow", a range of warm natural colours from gold, mustard and saffron to deep orange, red or brown (5) |
| AMMAN | A million people in a Middle East capital (5) |
| AQABA | A question over sailor reaching a Middle East port |
| ASSAD | The ambassador concealed a Middle East leader (5) |
| NEGEV | Vengefully torn part of a middle-east desert (5) |
| IRAQI | A Middle East national whose capital is Baghdad (5) |
| IRANI | One from a Middle East country (5) |
| YEMEN | The old soldiers of a Middle East Republic |
| ABFAB | Britcom with Bo Turtle and Saffron Monsoon |
| OMANI | Resident of a Middle East nation |
| GRANOLA | Breakfast food of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, honey and usually sweetened (7) |
| YEMENI | A native of a Middle East country whose constitutional capital is Sana'a (6) |
| BACLAVA | Middle-Eastern dessert of pastry, honey, nuts, etc |
| ORANGE | A hesperidium with aromatic zest and juicy segmented flesh; or, its corresponding colour, similar to apricot, carrot, ginger, papaya, peach, persimmon and saffron (6) |
| RAS | From "head", an Ethiopian prince; a headland; or, with "malai", a kulfi-like sweet Indian delicacy of chenna or paneer, clotted cream and saffron (3) |
| TONYBLAIR | Former British PM who became a Middle East envoy for the United Nations in the search for a peaceful solution to that region's conflict (4,5) |
