| CLUES | Balls of thread |
| CLEWS | Balls of thread |
| COPS | Seizes conical balls of thread |
| ARIADNE | Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae who helped Theseus escape the Minotaur's labyrinth with a ball of thread (7) |
| CLEW | Lower corner of a sail; or, a ball of thread used to guide one through a labyrinth or maze (4) |
| CLUE | From "ball of thread", word for a hint, inkling, pointer or "scooby doo" that leads one to the solution of a mystery or unravels a puzzle (4) |
| COP | Ball of thread on a spindle |
| SWING | The compass or sweep of a golf club, pendulum, trapeze or of one of the balls of a Newton's cradle (5) |
| SUSHI | A Japanese dish of cold balls of vinegared rice, usually garnished with slices of fish or egg (5) |
| FLOATS | Buoyant things, such as the balls of ballcocks, corks/quills of fishing-lines, dolphins for mooring, lifebelts, rafts or scoops of ice cream in cola (6) |
| DUMPLINGS | Get rid of fish, first piece of steak and balls of dough (9) |
| RYDER | Winona of "Great Balls of Fire!" |
| PADS | Balls of something, i. e. cotton, crumpled paper / large amounts of money |
| STARTS | Origins of temperature in great balls of fire (6) |
| JERRYLEELEWIS | "Great Balls of Fire" singer who was a charter inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 3 wds. |
| BOBA | Variety of cold tea containing balls of pearl tapioca, originating in Taiwan in the 1980s (4) |
| FALAFEL | What Middle Eastern dish consists of deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas? (7) |
| ROMANCANDLE | Slow-burning cylindrical firework that emits a continuous shower of sparks punctuated by coloured balls of fire (5,6) |
| ROMANCANDLES | Fireworks that produce a continuous shower of sparks punctuated by coloured balls of fire (5,7) |
| SNOW | What a cool guy!: Frosty was made of three giant balls of ___* |
