| THEDIVINECOMEDY | Dante work whose first section is "Inferno" (... letters 7-8 and 10-13) |
| MIDDLEAGESPREAD | Fortysomething's woe, or this puzzle's theme (see letters 7, 8 and 9) |
| OED | Work whose first installment spanned 352 pages and ended with "ant," in brief |
| DANTEAN | Desperate man impaled by stake -- such is Inferno (7) |
| BALTIMOREORIOLE | "State bird of Maryland (In this answer. note letters 7-8. 10-11 and 13) |
| ANIMOSITY | Hostile feeling, or an antonym of the word formed by letters 1, 4, 7, 8 and 9 |
| WONDERFUL | Magnificent, or an antonym of the word formed by letters 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9 |
| RECOMPOSED | Note what 10, 13 and 22 did: restored calm (10) |
| RENTCONTROL | Landlord's limitation (In this answer, note letters 4, 6, 8 and 10) |
| CALAMARI | *Official appetizer of the Ocean State (... letters 7-8) |
| SPLITLEVEL | Home with a between-floors entrance ... and what can be found on puzzle rows 3, 6, 8 and 10? |
| EDITHWHARTON | *Pulitzer-winning author of "The Age of Innocence" (In this clue's answer, note letters 6-8 and 10) |
| ROCKISLANDILLINOIS | One of the Midwest's Quad Cities (letters 10-13) |
| HAVEAROUGHIDEA | Get the basic notion (In this answer, notice letters 10-13) |
| SUBCONSCIOUSMIND | You can't tell when it's working (In this answer, unscramble letters 10-13) |
| ANALFIN | That of rudd is short, with 10-13 rays (4,3) |
| MAGNA | 8 and 10. "Anagram Act" dissolved by royal charter (5,5) |
| EVENHANDED | Has the cards 4, 6, 8 & 10? That's fair (10) |
| INFERNO | Deduce number of Dante work (7) |
| CONSTABLE | Station on 10, 13 and 2 (6, 9) |
