| SCINTILLATE | Be brilliant or a little bit third-rate around the edges |
| MOONSHINE | Second leg, be brilliant or rubbish (9) |
| FLORIN | Fellow left gold at home, or a small bit of it (6) |
| ARTTEACHER | Master of creativity, heart rate around about a hundred (3,7) |
| AFORTIORI | First rate around castle when Rio mingles at end for stronger, more certain reason (1,8) |
| STAGEDOOR | Good rates around theatre part? (5,4) |
| RAREST | Most infrequent adjustment of rates around end of September (6) |
| CRIB | A model in a Nativity scene of the manger in which the infant Jesus Christ was laid at birth; a wicker basket; a cowshed for oxen; a bin for grain; a card game developed from noddy; or, a little bed f |
| ECLAT | From the French meaning "burst" or "shine", a word for peacockery or splendour; brilliant or striking effect; social distinction; or, applause (5) |
| PERCH | Branch upon which a bird sleeps standing up; or, according to Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, a 'bold biting fish' to be caught with a minnow or a little frog (5) |
| WISP | A flight or flock of snipe; a bundle of hay or straw for shining a horse's coat; or, a little broom (4) |
| SNIP | A bargain; a cinch; a single cut with a pair of scissors; or, a little white patch on a horse's nose (4) |
| POSY | From an old word for verse collectively, a small floral bouquet, nosegay or tussie mussie, often given as a gift; or, a little motto or sentiment inscribed inside a ring (4) |
| SPLENDOUR | The state or quality of being brilliant or fine in appearance (9) |
| TESTER | Historically, a person employed to prove the innocuousness of food by eating it before serving it to their master or mistress; or, a little cup for a person who is sampling wine (6) |
| PUG | An old word for a fox; an informal name for a boxer; an animal's footprint; or, a little carlin with a curled tail and a wrinkled face, whose snorts and snuffles inspired its collective name "grumble" |
| SCALLOP | A mollusc with a fan-shaped shell; one of its valves, as a pilgrim's badge; or, a little dish, potato fritter or wavy edge, like said fluted shell (7) |
| CALF | It's a little higher than the ankle - or a little lower! |
| BRIGHT | Word describing something brilliant or shining, such as the real or figurative lights of big-city life (6) |
| RESPLENDENT | Having a brilliant or splendid appearance (11) |
