| SOLOWHIST | A trick-taking card game whose direct ancestor is the 17th-century Spanish game ombre |
| FOLLOWSUIT | Instruction in a trick-taking card game whose middle four letters spell the opposites of "highs": 2 wds. (Theme answer: A verb opposite "lead" precedes a formal garment) |
| DONJUAN | Protagonist of the 17th-century Spanish play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra ("The Seducer of Seville and the Stone Guest"), attributed to Tirso de Molina (3,4) |
| SPADILLE | Alternative name for the ace of spades, as used in the card games ombre and quadrille (8) |
| MANN | Bhagwant ____, Indian politician who is the 17th Chief Minister of Punjab (left in the image) |
| PROGENITOR | Direct ancestor |
| PREDECESSOR | One's ancestor is a former job holder |
| FORBEAR | Ancestor is a Boer, far off, maybe? (7) |
| PICT | An old Scottish ancestor is chosen, we hear (4) |
| BLOODLINE | Sequence of direct ancestors |
| OMBRE | Originally named after the Spanish word for "man", a trick-taking card game from which bridge derived (5) |
| ECARTE | A trick-taking card game for two players, similar to Whist, with an eponymous discarding phrase (6) |
| PINOCLE | A trick-taking card game like bezique (7) |
| NAPOLEON | A trick- taking card game, akin to Euchre ( 8) |
| BEZIQUE | A trick-taking card game for two (7) |
| SNEAK | In a trick-taking game, the lead of a singleton in a suit other than trumps |
| TRUMP | A card of elevated status in a trick-taking game (5) |
| PELOTA | A Spanish game played in a court with rackets fastened to the hand (6) |
| EUCHRE | A trick-taking trumping card game from which five hundred derives (6) |
| BREDA | Painting by 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velazquez, The Surrender of ___ |