| ANABASIS | An ascent or going up; or, a military advance, such as Cyrus the Younger's into Asia, as related by Xenophon (8) |
| RISE | An ascent or move upwards, such as that made on getting up from one's bed or that of a surfacing fish (4) |
| WHOPPER | Very large specimen, as related by angler? |
| STEPBYSTEP | Orderly way of working or going up stairs? (4,2,4) |
| BASE | Lower part of a shield; chief ingredient in a recipe; foundation in make-up; or, a military HQ (4) |
| EBRO | Bachelor in Oregon going up river |
| STANHOPE | William Pitt the Younger's niece who gave up aristocratic life and travelled the Middle East dressed as a sheikh on her Arab stallion, settling in a ruined convent in the Lebanon Mountains (8) |
| HALT | A limp; a standstill; a minor station on a country railway line; or, a military command to cease marching (4) |
| DISPATCH | Dismissal; a sending away in haste; promptitude generally; the posting of mail or sending of a messenger; or, a military/journalistic report (8) |
| CLIMB | An ascent of a cliff, hill or mountain; the route taken; or, an aircraft's flight upwards (5) |
| EXERCISE | Physical exertion for training or keeping fit; a written school task; a study in music; or, a military drill (8) |
| SALLY | Bell-rope's colourful woolly grip; a jaunt; a quip; or, a military sortie (5) |
| PANCAKE | Another name for a crepe; a form of theatrical make-up; or, a style of tutu (7) |
| NEVERSAYDIE | "You can't give up" or a command you'll obey while reading the answers to the starred clues aloud |
| BARRE | Horizontal support in a dance studio for ballet practice and warm-ups; or, a form of exercise inspired by such (5) |
| TAILSKIDS | In aeronautics, a backward movement of an aircraft following a stall during an ascent (9) |
| AGA | Solid fuel cooker (perfect for the Christmas turkey), or a military leader (especially in Turkey)! (3) |
| ELK | Member of the deer family in North America and Eastern Asia, as in the North American crab apple Malus coronaria '___ River' (3) |
| ANAESTHESIA | He sent a supply into Asia, quite a number (11) |
| BRUSH | Have a clean-up - or a dust-up (5) |
