| MOAT | A defensive ditch surrounding a castle or fort, typically filled with water (4) |
| MEAD | Crater, typically filled by a lake, formed by a volcanic eruption (4) |
| MAAR | Crater, typically filled by a lake, formed by a volcanic eruption (4) |
| DANCES | Middle-school events that are typically filled with sweaty palms |
| ODE | Poem typically filled with flowery language |
| TRENCH | A defensive ditch |
| POOL | Loop it back and have it filled with water (4) |
| CITY | Fort Lauderdale or Fort Wayne for example |
| HOSE | Stockings that might be filled with water (4) |
| EWER | Vessel always filled with water, primarily (4) |
| TREE | Playhouse or fort site |
| SNOW | Word before "pea" or "fort" |
| BATH | City barely filled with water? |
| TANK | War machine often filled with water |
| KEEPER | Chatelaine or mistress of a castle or large country house; the curator of a collection in a gallery or museum; or, a fish large enough to be retained when caught (6) |
| GROUNDS | Campus, estate, gardens, park or other land collectively surrounding a castle, large country house or university; coffee bean sediment; or, the basis of justification or action (7) |
| BARBICAN | A watchtower above a gate or drawbridge in a castle or walled city (8) |
| PORTCULLIS | A sliding door or grating that is lowered in the gateway of a castle; or, in heraldry, a lattice (10) |
| RAMPART | A flat-topped defensive mound of a castle or walled city (7) |
| SANDBOX | Where a kid might build a castle ... or when parsed differently, a hint to the starred clues' answers |